Nanako Explains It All
by Angevon
Summary: Nanako Dojima is a sixteen-year-old transfer student to Inaba. She awakens to the mysterious power of 'Persona' and then rocks everyone's world. Character Swap AU: Nanako is the protagonist, and Souji is her little cousin.
1. Chapter 1 - Dangerous

[Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to Nanako Explains It All! Do you have the Nickelodeon theme song stuck in your head yet? Na na na na na...

The gist of this story is that Nanako Dojima and the Main Character (Souji Seta) have switched places. This means that Nanako is the transfer student who discovers the TV World and investigates the murders and earns a Persona, etc. Souji, then, is her lonely little cousin who's missing one of his parents...

It was inspired by a request on the Persona 4 Kink Meme (but not written for it). I couldn't stop thinking of Nanako as the main character, and before I knew it, I was rewriting the entirety of Persona 4 to accommodate her.

As a result, Nanako and Souji's 'swap' aren't the only changes. Several social links will be different (the little cousin, for example, is no longer of the Justice arcana), and her initial Persona will be different, and important events will carry on differently due to Nanako's background and personality (and, of course, my own whims). If it was the same old story, it wouldn't be worth reading, right? I'd rather not give away all the changes here in the author's notes!

Obviously, there will be spoilers for the entire game/anime/manga. It shouldn't matter which version of the Persona 4 story you're most familiar with, although game mechanics will be mentioned and poked fun at, especially those concerning social links and the Velvet Room's services. As a sidenote, the game itself will be the canon I'm using. If you'd like to see a playthrough of the game for reference, I recommend Really Pants' playthrough of Persona 4: Golden on the Let's Play Archive. I've been using it as a reference myself, actually!

Other warnings: the humor will be juvenile at times (you'll know what I mean by the end of chapter 4, so if you don't like Nanako's sense of humor by then, it's probably not a story meant for you, haha), there'll be swearing here and there, and there's going to be some violence, although nothing too graphic—mainly when fighting Shadows. There won't be sexual content, but there will be innuendo, nudity, and discussions of sexuality. The story should hopefully stay within a T-rating, but it might straddle the line at times. Nanako sometimes gets out of my control even as I write her...!

To those hoping for a Burn My Regret sequel: this is what you get instead... and I'm not sorry.

Oh, and my coauthor is herrDoktorat. Check out his Persona x Detective Naoto rewrite-it's great!

Updates will be on Thursdays!]

* * *

><p>[411: Monday]

Nanako Dojima didn't watch the gravure Risette advertisement playing on the TVs at the train station. Instead, she watched the people watching the ad. Watching people. That was something her father, a police detective, had taught her.

_That guy,_ she thought, looking at a middle-aged salaryman with glasses, _is going to remember this ad tonight._

She sighed to herself. Quelorie Magic tasted like chalk, why would anyone bother? But she could do with a Mad Bull right now... No, no caffeine. She planned to sleep on the train. She'd stayed up all night marathoning Magical Detective Loveline for that express purpose. Sure, it was a kid's show, but tons of adults watched Featherman with nostalgia as their excuse, so she didn't allow herself to feel immature for enjoying it. Besides, the show was good, if campy at times, and every episode had a moral or made some sort of statement.

The ad changed to a couple of news anchors discussing a political scandal that Nanako couldn't care less about. The two people who had been watching the Risette ad must have felt the same, because one shuffled off and the other turned away. This left Nanako with only a kid playing a game on his cell phone to look at. He was pretty into it, whatever game it was, gaze fixed on the screen even when some lady with oversized luggage bumped into him. Nanako had a bunch of games on her own phone that she could while away the time with, but she didn't really feel like taking it out right now. Didn't want to feel too reliant on it, since it was her only means of communication with her family at the moment. She was dead set on the road to independence!

Thankfully, the train pulled up before she grew too bored of her surroundings. She boarded and took a seat in an empty row and put her duffel bag on the seat next to her, thereby preventing anyone else from sitting there. This was Tokyo, after all. The last thing she wanted was some pervert sitting next to her when she was trying to get some shut eye...

* * *

><p>Maybe that shouldn't have been her last thought as she drifted off because she had a very vivid dream of a guy with an impossibly long nose. He told her about—something, she wasn't quite listening because she couldn't stop staring at that nose. He had long, pointy ears, too, bulging eyes, and spindly fingers covered by elegant white gloves.<p>

While he spoke, she became vaguely aware of her surroundings. She seemed to be in a limousine furnished in blue velvet, and fog streamed by outside the windows. The full liquor shelf caught her eye, a detail she never thought her waking imagination would create. She hadn't seen anything like that on Loveline last night—rather, this morning—had she?

The long-nosed man, who introduced himself as Igor, tapped the short table in front of him to focus her attention. He showed her some tarot cards, but Nanako didn't believe in fortune telling, so she just politely nodded when he gave her the reading. Her future sounded portentous anyway. Both catastrophe _and_ misfortune awaited her? Huh, maybe she wasn't as happy about moving away from her family for the year as she'd pretended.

Or maybe the catastrophe was directed towards other people. Nanako was going to shake up peoples' worlds. Yeah! That she could get behind. Now she was getting excited!

"Tell me more," she requested, and the grin on Igor's face, which hadn't dropped even when he was telling her the bad news, seemed to widen.

* * *

><p>Nanako blinked herself awake, then looked muzzily out the window, barely registering the terrain going by. There was no fog out here.<p>

After that dream, she wasn't sure she wanted to get back to sleep. It had just been so _weird._ She was pretty sure she didn't know anything about fortune telling at all. The only tarot cards she could name were Death and Lovers because, well, those were the ones everyone knew from movies, and those hadn't been the cards she'd been shown, so it was pretty weird to have a dream like that.

Maybe staying up all night had been a bad idea.

* * *

><p>Some hours later, the train stopped at Yasoinaba Station. Nanako was the only person to get off the train. Yep, this was Nowheresville all right. She'd been warned about it, but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. The train station, so bustling back home, was a ghost town. There wasn't even an attendant sweeping the place or anything like that. She was literally alone. She almost expected a tumbleweed to roll by. Or some stray whistling to begin out of nowhere.<p>

She walked around the pitifully small station for a bit simply to stretch her legs. The nearest vending machines were sold out of drinks and looked like they hadn't been restocked in weeks. The buttons were all scratched up and cobwebs covered the slot the drinks came out of. There was an abandoned bicycle at the bike rack next to the vending machines. It was missing a wheel and rusting on its chain. Weeds grew unchecked in the cracks in the sidewalk. The shadowy shape of some creature darted into an alley when she walked by it.

Luckily, the train had been right on time. Now she just had to hope her family would also be on time, or else... uh, she'd be alone for even longer? It was kind of chilling to think about being abandoned here in the middle of nowhere. Hey, what if that's what that Igor guy meant about catastrophe? Nanako Dojima, the only survivor in a post-apocalyptic world, must band together with the local wildlife—

"Ah, over here!"

Nanako turned to see a dark-haired, middle-aged woman in a business suit and stylish heels walking briskly towards her. She wore a little too much makeup and the strong scent of perfume preceded her.

"Nanako-chan," the lady said with a very red-lipsticky smile. Nanako made an involuntary face at the honorific. This lady didn't know her well enough to call her that, but...

"Aunt Seta," Nanako replied with a polite curtsey.

She was family, so...

"This is my son," Aunt Seta said.

Son? Being a detective's daughter, Nanako prided herself on her powers of observation, but she hadn't even noticed the little boy hiding in his mother's shadow. Was there even a child there? Nanako squinted in the waning sunlight but couldn't see much of anything.

"Souji, don't be shy. This is your cousin, and she's going to live with us for the next year. We've talked about this!" The woman grabbed the boy by the wrist and yanked him forward.

Now Nanako could get a good view. He was a very young boy, she judged, maybe in kindergarten, with strange gray hair in a bowl cut and matching gray eyes that were very, very wide.

Aunt Seta pushed the boy forward in order to goad him into approaching, but the boy ended up stumbling into the asphalt.

The fall looked like it had _hurt._ Nanako hissed sympathetically.

On the ground, the boy took a deep breath, the obvious precursor to crying. Then his mother clicked her tongue at him. The boy stared at the ground for a very long moment, and then sighed and pulled himself up to his feet.

"Anyway," Aunt Seta said, as if that entire incident hadn't just happened. "We need to stop and get gas, so—what are you...?"

Nanako couldn't take it. She rushed up to the boy, bent down, and wrapped her arms around him. The boy made a confused sound and tried to pull away. "Hey, cousin? Let's be friends," she whispered in his ear.

The boy stiffened. "F-friends...?" he whispered back.

She opened her mouth to say something further, but Aunt Seta cleared her throat. "The gas station closes soon," she said crisply, "so I would appreciate it if we could get moving."

Nanako frowned but kept her mouth shut. She did, however, help the little boy into the back seat of the car, and she made sure he was buckled in. By the way the boy pouted and played with the belt, she suspected his mother neglected to buckle him up. Nanako wanted to sigh in exasperation, but settled with patting the boy's hand and then strapping herself in, too. Lead by example!

"You can sit in the front, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta commented. "There's no need to stay in the back."

"I'm already back here, so..." Nanako replied. "But thank you anyway, Aunt Seta."

Her aunt shrugged and then they were off.

A ghost town with only the three of them in it... To Nanako's vast relief, she saw plenty of other people from the car. Inaba wasn't quite as unpopulated as she'd originally thought. Well, there had to be enough people around to warrant a school at least. Damn, tomorrow was the first day of school already. She hadn't even had a chance to familiarize herself with the town. Oh well, that's just how it had turned out. At least most of her most important belongings should already be at the house. She'd mailed several boxes worth of stuff ahead of time to the Seta residence. She didn't relish unpacking them all, however.

Her little cousin was staring at her and gripping the seatbelt really tightly. She wondered if she should say anything to him, but then Aunt Seta's phone rang and the woman cursed with language she really shouldn't use in front of her son (or niece, for that matter). It killed any desire Nanako had for conversation stone dead.

Fortunately they soon stopped at the gas station. Nanako was surprised to hear Souji suddenly speak up to ask to use the bathroom. "You know where it is," Aunt Seta told him while they were still in the car. She turned her head towards Nanako and added, "Sorry, I have to make a call."

Souji watched his mother walk away from the car with a mournful expression. "M-mom...?" he mumbled. "I can't get out..."

Nanako undid her own seatbelt and then leaned towards him. "Here," she said, holding the buckle part of the boy's seatbelt. She demonstrated how to unbuckle it. He didn't respond—he just sort of stared at her hands. "Uh, come on," she said. "Let's go to the bathroom together, okay?"

Now he was staring at her face. His gray eyes were so expressionless! After a long moment, he nodded.

He exited the car and she went through the same door, since she'd scooted over to his side of the car anyway. She followed the boy through the sliding glass doors and into the convenience store. He did indeed seem to know where the bathrooms were. She had to stop him before he went into the boy's room, though. "Come on, this way," she said, taking his hand and leading him towards the girl's room.

"I-I'm not a girl," he murmured.

"If your mom was here, would she take you into the boy's room or the girl's room?"

He seemed troubled by the question, but no longer resisted her pull.

After he was done with his business, Nanako picked him up so that he could reach the sink to wash his hands. Then she pulled down some paper towels for him to dry them on, but he'd already dried them on his shirt. She wondered how he washed his hands without someone to help him and realized with distaste that he probably didn't. Oh, well, he was just a kid, after all.

On the way out of the store, Nanako thought about buying a soda—now she could use some caffeine—but she'd left her purse in the duffel bag in the car. She sighed and tried to ignore the huge display for Dr. Salt Neo at the front of the store. It seemed to be mocking her.

They exited the store and nothing outside had changed. _Ghost town,_ she thought to herself, and followed it up by humming the theme song to a mystery show she liked. There were no new vehicles waiting for gas or anything. That moving truck in the far bay was still there. She wondered if her aunt had even gotten any gas. The woman was still on the phone, pacing around the flags along the sidewalk that advertised deals in the convenience store.

"Th-there you are!" a man in a red and orange gas station uniform suddenly said. The man held his hand out in front of him and then stopped before them.

Souji immediately hugged Nanako's leg and hid his face against her skirt. Clearly the boy had a fear of strangers.

"Yes?" Nanako asked, wondering why the gas station attendant was even addressing them.

The gas station attendant worked his jaw like he was wondering the same thing. Then his strange red eyes brightened. "Ah! I haven't seen your face before. Are you new to town?"

Ah, well, Inaba was a ghost town—_small town,_ she mentally corrected. Nanako supposed everyone probably knew each other. "Yep. I'm from Tokyo. Just visiting." She began to walk towards the car, gently pulling Souji along by the hand.

"Hey—" the attendant said as she passed him.

"Sorry," Nanako said briskly, "I gotta teach my little cousin about seatbelt safety while Auntie is preoccupied."

"Most people don't drive very much around here," the attendant commented. "Inaba is a small town, as I'm sure you've noticed. By the way, are you in high school—"

"That's no reason to be negligent. Did you know almost half of all children's deaths are from car accidents? And almost half of those could have been prevented if the child was in a safety seat?" Well, Nanako might have been exaggerating and she didn't have numbers to back up her words, but she felt strongly on this issue.

While she was caught up in her crusade, she hadn't realized the gas station attendant had closed the distance between them until he was barely a foot and a half away from her. Souji was now tugging her skirt in his anxiety, and Nanako worried for a second that he might pull it down which would make this situation even creepier.

"We are looking for part-time help," the man breathed. He held out his hand towards her. "We hire students... Won't you consider it?"

"Maybe?" she answered. "I mean, I just got here not even an hour ago, sheesh." _I'm not touching you._ _You're the type to think it's a date or something!_

While she was trying to cross her arms, the man grabbed her hand with inhuman speed. Acting on well-honed instincts from her aikido lessons, she lowered her center of mass and then lifted up with her caught hand against the pressure point in his wrist until he hissed in pain. Then she let the arm drop, which unbalanced him and enabled her to throw him into a tumble away from her.

Nanako clutched her hand, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "In the car now, cousin!" she shouted. She glanced around for witnesses, but the problem with small towns is that there was _no one around._ Maybe her aunt had noticed and would call the cops! No such luck; Aunt Seta was facing away from them, still on the phone.

She jumped into a defensive stance and watched the man for his next move.

But the attendant remained on the ground and was now holding up both of his hands in a gesture of peace. "Hey, hey! I didn't mean anything by that." His red eyes were flashing, but he didn't seem angry. "I just wanted a friendly handshake. Do they not have those in Tokyo?" He picked up his hat, which had fallen off during the tumble, and secured it back onto his head.

"Maybe I overreacted," Nanako admitted, lowering her fists, "but man, it's called personal space, and you're only allowed in it if you're invited, okay? Especially if you're a guy!"

"I'm n—hmph. Yes, I see. In tha—"

"Is she filled up?"

Both Nanako and the attendant blinked rapidly at the interruption. It was Aunt Seta, finally done with her call.

Nanako exhaled in relief and then scurried into the car while her aunt paid for the gas.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Nanako went up to the room that would be hers for the next year. She didn't take the time to appreciate her new home at all, though she did observe that her boxes from home were present.<p>

She felt like shit.

There was no nice way to put it; 'shit' described it perfectly. Damn, she really shouldn't have stayed up all night. What little sleep she'd managed to get on the train was obviously not enough. But somehow this feeling wasn't related to that. It was like a headache, but not exactly achy, just... it left her kind of lightheaded, like she wanted to throw up.

Maybe it was from the awkward dinner. Because of how sick she'd felt after what she was now calling the 'Gas Station Incident,' she hardly had an appetite for the takeout that her aunt had picked up—despite not having eaten all day. And in the middle of inquiring what her responsibilities around the house would be, Aunt Seta had taken a phone call and excused herself from the table to talk in another room.

Which left her with that awkward little boy, Souji. But as soon as they'd finished eating, he'd put the takeout boxes in the trash, and then he'd escaped without a word to his own room. He'd closed the door behind him, too. So she'd waited for her aunt to return.

It had taken her over an hour to finish the call.

"I'm sorry, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta had said. "I took the afternoon off to pick you up, but it seems I can't escape my responsibilities at the office." She'd then sighed.

She'd also completely failed to notice that her son wasn't around.

After having watched an uninteresting news segment with her aunt, Nanako had dismissed herself to her new room, where she set her alarm and then fell onto the futon without even getting changed.

* * *

><p>[412: Tuesday]

Nanako felt better in the morning, though her mind felt… foggy...

She changed into her school uniform. Yasogami, huh? The symbol looked kind of like a peace sign or a biplane propeller. She supposed it was meant to resemble the letter Y. The scarf was yellow, and the jacket and skirt a very dark gray, almost black. Rather standard, really. She wondered how strict the teachers would be out here, what she could do to personalize the uniform and not get in trouble.

Well, she'd find out today and then figure out what to do tomorrow. Best not to rock the boat already.

Pfft. Yeah, right. She gave herself ten minutes before she spoke out of turn to a teacher or something. She knew herself. She took off the scarf and tied it around her left wrist. That would do for now.

She went downstairs and found her six-year-old cousin standing on a step stool in front of the stove and frying eggs.

Nanako stared at the bizarre sight for several long moments. Frying eggs. A six-year-old. "Ah, no!" she exclaimed when he picked up a spatula to flip them.

Souji heard her outburst and turned, blinking those gray eyes. "You don't… like eggs?"

"Uh, umm, where's your mom?" she asked.

"She's at work…"

Aunt Seta had already left for the day? There was no way this boy had enough autonomy to cook.

Or maybe he did, because he totally turned back to the stove and skillfully flipped the eggs and watched them sizzle in the pan. Then there was a 'pop' and the boy put the spatula down, got off the stool, moved it over two feet, and climbed it again to get to the toaster, which had just ejected two slices of toast.

He really was six, right? Aunt Seta didn't, like, forget his age or something?

More importantly, was this legal?

"H-here," she said, stepping in front of the stove before he could scoot the stool back. "I'll finish the eggs while you get ready for school, okay?"

"I'm already ready," he mumbled.

"Why don't you get the butter out for the toast, then?" she continued briskly.

He pointed to the counter, where the butter container already stood.

"Drinks?"

He nodded, opened the fridge, and pulled out a carton of milk. Then he took his step stool to a different area of the kitchen to pull down two glasses from a cabinet and poured milk into each.

They ate breakfast together, and Nanako decided it would be best to compliment the chef, right? "This is great, Souji-kun! Thank you!" she said with her mouth full of bread. _By the way, who the hell taught you to cook?_

Souji looked down at his plate and mumbled something. She hoped it was, 'You're welcome.'

"Hey, umm... Did you see your mom this morning?" she asked. _Does she know you cook? Did she tell you to cook for me...?_

"She leaves before I get up..." the boy said quietly.

"You walk to school by yourself?"

"...I'm a big boy..." he murmured. He blinked a few times, still staring at his eggs.

"Let's walk together," Nanako said. It wasn't a suggestion.

* * *

><p>It was raining, so Nanako had to spend a few minutes rummaging through the boxes of stuff still packed in her room to find her umbrella. It was a very bright pink umbrella. Beautiful and vibrant, like herself, or so she liked to think. It was also themed after Loveline. The handle had the wing-and-heart shape that was part of the magical detective's logo.<p>

Souji had a smaller umbrella, a gray one, presumably to match his hair. Or maybe to match his attitude. He seemed rather... gloomy? That wasn't the word she meant to use, but it was what came to mind when she saw him with that umbrella. Solemn? Grave?

They exited the house and Souji locked the door behind them. Oh, damn, he was only six and a latchkey kid as well? Nanako had been given a key too, but he had beaten her to it.

Nanako stepped out into the very light rain and onto the road. She did a complete twirl, feeling energetic for some reason. A new day. Her first real day here—yesterday didn't count. It would be fun, right? She took in a deep breath of the fresh, rural air. Yeah, it smelled like damp earth. She liked it. It was much better than inner-city car exhaust, at least!

"Uh, which way?" she asked when the boy joined her. So tired last night, she hadn't even bothered to get directions to school. Wait, would the boy even know where the high school was? She might be in trouble. Oh, well, worst case scenario, she had her phone.

Fortunately, he did. "You go that way," he said when they reached a particular intersection.

"Well, I don't mind walking you the rest of the way to your school," she began, but he was looking down at his feet.

"It's okay..." he said softly. He started trudging down the road, splashing through a puddle, his gaze still firmly on the ground.

Nanako stared after him, barely suppressing the urge to skip school and take the boy out to an ice cream parlor or something. There was something radically wrong with this family... She'd have to figure it out. Find _something_ to cheer the boy up.

She continued on down the road. A sign labeled the area as the Samegawa Flood Plain. Flood plain, huh. If it rained a lot, then this area could get under water. In fact, she passed by a big warning sign explaining just that. Well, the current rain was just a drizzle. Even a month straight of this wouldn't cause flooding, she was sure.

While she walked down the road, she spied other students with the same uniforms walking far ahead of her in the same direction. Good, she could just follow them in. No worries about getting lost. She had a sudden thought: what if she got lost and ended up at the gas station? No matter where she went, she'd end up back there… No escape…

A boy on a yellow bicycle breezed by her. She watched as he struggled to steer and hold his umbrella at the same time. "Ah, watch out!" she called, but it was too late. He crashed headlong into a utility pole.

She considered running to check if he was all right, but he was able to get to his feet, though he was kind of doubled over in pain. Something told her not to get to get too concerned, and she trusted her instincts, so she just walked on past him.

The school was just a high school, which was unusual to her. Back in the city, the school she'd attended combined all three levels—elementary, middle, and high—on the same campus, though they were all in separate buildings. And Yasogami High seemed to be a rather small school, too, with only two main buildings and a gym. There turned out to be only three classes per level, a far cry from the six her old school contained.

She headed to the faculty office. Her homeroom teacher was Mr. Morooka, who, uh, well, he had a massive overbite. His teeth reminded her of Igor's nose, but Igor was way more fun than this man. Morooka was ranting to one of the other teachers about—something, she didn't catch what—and turned a baleful eye on her. He wore a blue pinstripe suit and a yellow checkered tie.

"What do you want, _young lady?_ I swear, if you waste one minute of my precious before-class time, I'll—Hneh? You're that transfer student aren't you? Well, well." Morooka put his hands in his pockets and eyed her. "Let me give you some ground rules—"

A school employee suddenly poked his head into the faculty office. "Morooka-san, class starts soon, so, uh, I was going to lock the door now."

"Yeah, yeah," Morooka grumbled. "Come along, girl."

Nanako followed Morooka out, watching him warily, but withholding judgment for now. Observation, her dad once said, is one of your most important skills. Don't jump to conclusions.

His destination was the aptly-named Classroom 2-2 on the second floor. Morooka took his place at the podium and launched into a rant about 'kids these days' being love-struck monkeys. Nanako stood off to the side and wondered if she was dreaming again or something. His dialogue seemed very stream-of-consciousness...

"Now then! We have some trash thrown out here from the big city." Was that… Nanako's cue? Yes, he was looking at her now. "You boys better not be thinking anything like 'she's easy' or wondering where she's been. I'd better not hear you hitting on her, you hear me? Tell 'em your name, girl, and don't waste any more of my time!"

After the gas station attendant yesterday, Nanako wondered if everyone in this town was creepy...

She ignored the content of his words and stepped forward with a brighter smile than she felt. "Hi. I'm Nanako Dojima. I'm from Tokyo. I'm—"

"Tokyo, huh?" Morooka interrupted. "So you've come all the way here to ogle our last few innocent boys and ruin them with your perverted big city ways?"

"I won't ogle any boys who ogle me first," she promised, flashing teeth. "Which pretty much eliminates everyone in this class."

The class reacted to that with some surprised curses and muffled laughter.

"'Pure as the driven snow,'" Morooka growled, quoting from his previous rant. "If you're going to act like a damned tease—"

Nanako decided it was high time she started screwing with people. Her day couldn't get any worse. "By the way," she spoke over the teacher, "I'm all the way out here because my family is being targeted by the yakuza!"

She paused dramatically, absorbing the gasps and whispers before declaring, "Nice to meet you!" with a wide smile and a wave.

Morooka spluttered in surprise at her insubordination, and then a short-haired girl wearing a green jacket raised her hand and asked if Nanako could take the seat next to her. Derailed, Morooka ordered her to 'siddown' and then went on about the lack of respect in youth today.

As she sat, the girl next to her whispered, "Welcome to Inaba, huh?" and winked at her. "We're stuck with him for a year. We'll just have to hang in there!"

* * *

><p>"What you said about the yakuza... was that true?" Her new friend, Chie Satonaka, asked her while they were both in the restroom during the lunch break. They'd escaped there because Nanako was tired of answering questions about Tokyo.<p>

"Nah," Nanako admitted easily. "It just sounded cool, right?"

"I'll say! You've got half the class thinking you're dangerous!"

"Who says I'm not dangerous?" Nanako said, placing a hand on her hip. "I want their names and addresses so I can show them the light."

Chie laughed. "I think this is going to be an interesting year. Even if we have to suffer King Moron."

"What is that guy's problem, anyway? Please tell me he's not always like that."

"Haha, well…"

A raven-haired girl with a red sweater and matching hairband entered the bathroom. "Ch-Chie..." she said. "Do you mind coming with me? People keep asking me about that announcer…"

Nanako whimpered. "Your hair…"

The newcomer ran her fingers over her long black hair. "Yes?"

"It's so beautiful!" Nanako stepped forward, then released her own hair from its clip and brushed it out for display. "I hate my own. So brown and boring… Yours is so sleek!"

The girl seemed embarrassed. "Well, thank you. You look familiar… Are you…?"

"Yukiko, this is the transfer student!" Chie said. "Her name's Nanako. She sits next to me, did you even notice?"

Yukiko looked downcast. "Ah, no, I didn't."

"It's all right," Nanako said. "It's actually kind of refreshing to have someone not so interested…"

"Nanako is from Tokyo," Chie went on.

Yukiko looked up with curious eyes. "Is that so…?" she murmured. Nanako almost backed away from the wistful expression on her face. So much for her not being interested…!

"Haha, well, Tokyo is…" Nanako sighed. "Well, if we're gonna talk about that, we might as well return to class so everyone else can hear, too. Besides, it's lunchtime and I'm hungry!"

* * *

><p>Because it was the first day, they didn't have normal classes. Before lunch there had been a welcoming ceremony in the auditorium, which proved to Nanako once and for all that this <em>wasn't<em> a ghost town due to the number of students present, but after that, it was just an entire day of enduring King Moron's ranting. Right when school was about to let out, however, an announcement blared over the speakers, telling everyone not to leave the school.

"Don't go anywhere," Morooka growled before leaving the classroom. All teachers had been called to the faculty office.

Nanako tensed in her seat. Trapped in the school on the very first day? She had just stopped thinking of survival horror scenarios, too! And dammit, she had been set to ask Chie to show her around town…

No one else seemed to be bothered by the situation, though. Mostly the students around her complained about ruined plans or speculated about what was going on. Then they heard the blare of sirens and people scrambled to the windows to get a good look.

Shortly after, another announcement declared that there had been an incident within the school zone.

Now some students were beginning to panic. "Wh-what's going on?" "Incident!?" "What's with the fog…?" "A-are we safe?"

Nanako stood up suddenly. "It's the yakuza!" she declared dramatically. "They found me already! Don't let them get me!"

"Y-yakuza!?" someone yelped. As if on cue, another set of sirens went by the school.

Several apprehensive sets of eyes looked upon her now, and then she laughed and explained that it was a joke.

"You almost had me going there, Nanako!" Chie said, shaking her head. "Sheesh!"

"You shouldn't joke about that…" Yukiko murmured.

Another announcement rang out and exhorted the students to leave the school and head straight home.

"Well, I guess the incident is contained, whatever it was," Nanako said. She sighed. No zombies today... And straight home, huh? So much for exploring the town. Oh well, she had a whole year, anyway. Better save something to do for tomorrow.

While most of her classmates were filtering out of the room, Nanako checked her phone for messages. Nothing. She got up, stretched, and started walking towards the back door where she witnessed the event that would soon define her life.

"My Trial of the Dragon!" Chie screamed and let out a flying kick that hit a brown-haired boy right where it mattered. The victim emitted a dying squeal and crumpled to the ground.

"Chie!" Nanako gasped.

Chie looked embarrassed. "Oh, uh, I guess I shouldn't have done that in front of everyone, huh...?"

Nanako stalked forward and grabbed her by the wrist. "Who taught you that!? That was awesome!"


	2. Chapter 2 - Mayonaka

"I kind of taught myself," Chie said while they were walking down to the shoe lockers. "I love martial arts, so I practiced the moves I've seen in movies. It's not easy doing it from memory, though... I used to train in my room but my mom got upset when I kicked through the fusuma."

"Parents, right?" Nanako said sympathetically while putting on her walking shoes. "They'll never understand."

"Too true," Yukiko murmured her assent.

They walked out of the school's front doors, and Chie explained that the boy she had kicked had broken one of her favorite DVDs. "He'd better buy me a replacement. My _Trial of the Dragon!_ It was the special edition, too!"

"It's like no one has respect for property anymore!" Nanako agreed.

"I know, right?"

When they were passing the front gate, a boy approached them. He wasn't from Yasogami—he wore a suit with a private school's logo on the breast. The boy had large, dark eyes that reminded Nanako of fish. "Yuki," he said. "Y-you want to go hang out?"

Yukiko didn't seem to even know who he was. "Um, excuse me?"

"H-hang out, Yuki. Just you and me." The kid licked his lips nervously.

"Her name is Yukiko-_SAN_ to you, cumbag!"

The fish-eyed kid drew back warily when Nanako stepped forward. "I wasn't talking to you," he said.

"Hey, Chie," Nanako continued. "Maybe you'll get a demonstration on how well I can kick, if a certain creepy guy doesn't get out of my sight!"

"You'll regret that!" the kid said, but he scampered off anyway.

Nanako turned to find Yukiko in stitches of laughter. "N-Nanako," she gasped, "it's supposed to be _scum_bag!"

"I said exactly what I meant."

"Aha, well, that was creepy, wasn't it?" Chie said.

"This whole town is full of creeps," Nanako commented. "Uh, present company excepted!"

"Yo, Yukiko-san!" The boy whom Chie had kicked earlier was walking his bike to the front gate. Apparently he had survived. Nanako realized he was the same boy she'd seen crash his bike before school. He had floppy brown hair, brown eyes, and wore orange headphones around his neck. She decided he must be more resilient than he looked. "Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" he said, sounding amused.

"Speaking of creeps," said Chie, then she laughed at the boy's expression.

"You're both cruel…" he said. "I think I'll quit while I'm ahead… But hey, you're the transfer student, Nanako-san, right? I'm a transfer student, too!"

"If you want to quit while you're ahead, that's not how you do it," Nanako said critically, her hands on her hips.

"People are staring," Chie said. "Let's get going."

They started walking down the road, completely ignoring the bicycle kid. Nanako slowed for a moment, calculating. Their classroom was on the second floor, the windows were facing south, and the police sirens had been heading towards the back of the classroom, meaning they had been heading… this way. She tried to subtly steer her two new friends in that direction. Fortunately, it seemed to be the same way she had come into school, anyway, so she had an excuse.

They passed by a field growing some sort of produce in neat little rows. The rain had stopped, but the sky was blanketed by clouds of varying gray hues. They reminded her of her little cousin… She hoped his school wasn't affected by the incident...

"There really is nothing here, huh?" Chie said, interrupting her thoughts. "I think it's nice, but it might be boring to outsiders." She admitted that she and Yukiko had lived in Inaba their whole lives. "Yukiko's family owns the Amagi Inn. It's the pride of the town!"

Yukiko looked away. "It's just an old inn…"

Chie went on about how important the inn was to the little town, but all Nanako heard was _hot springs._ She'd have to plan a trip. Maybe Souji-kun would like that?

"So, uh, if the yakuza thing was a joke… Why did you transfer here, Nanako?" Chie asked.

"Family," Nanako replied. "Well, my mom's overseas. She plays the piano professionally, and my dad's really busy. He's a detective with the police. So… I'm staying with my aunt and little cousin for the year until my mom's concert tour is done."

"A whole year, huh? I couldn't imagine being so far away from my parents," Chie admitted.

Nanako didn't answer, though she felt Yukiko's interested gaze on her. She had mixed feelings on the move and didn't want to delve into them right then. Not until she'd been here a few more days, at least.

"Whoa, look at that!" Chie exclaimed. Ahead was a group of police cars blocking a side road complete with flashing lights.

Yesss, thought Nanako. They had gone in the right direction! She began to walk faster, and the two girls followed her lead.

Drawing closer to the makeshift barricade, Nanako spied the cop being hassled by a bunch of housewives and used her somewhat short stature to her advantage to sneak behind a police car and past him.

Where she wished she had been more observant because someone had barfed over here and she'd almost stepped right in it. Geez, where is that rain when you need it?

"Uh, Nanako, I don't think we—" she heard Chie whisper too loudly some distance behind her. Nanako waved a hand back at her, indicating that Chie should stay behind. She tiptoed forward until the crime scene was in sight.

Orange cones and police barricades had been placed haphazardly around a utility pole. A photographer was setting up a tripod and aiming the camera up at the top of the pole. There was nothing up there, just a tangle of utility lines. Some of the wires had been cut down.

On the ground were a couple of blue tarps and some boxes probably unrelated to the crime. A trio of officers who had yet to notice her were gathered around a conspicuous black bag...

And then she was caught.

"Hey... Hey!" shouted one of the three officers. He appeared to be a lieutenant. "What are you... Adachi! I told you not to let any civvies past here!" He waddled towards Nanako. "Excuse me, miss, but this area is off limits for the time being. If you need to get through, please use the next street over."

"Y-yeah," she said. "Who died?"

"We aren't prepared to release a statement," the lieutenant recited smoothly. Damn, he had played this game before. Well, he did look old. Experienced, rather. He had some years on Nanako's father, even. "Dammit, Adachi!"

"S-sir...?" a resigned voice behind her said. She turned to see a young policeman looking rather green about the gills approaching. His black hair was a little scruffy; he'd probably been rained on earlier. His eyes flickered to the body bag and then he began to have dry heaves. "S-sorry!" He covered his mouth and ran off suddenly.

The lieutenant shook his head. "Still a rookie... His old partner, may he rest in peace, would be giving him hell right about now. Anyway, miss. Allow me to escort you back..."

* * *

><p>"Someone died," Nanako reported to the girls once she rejoined them on the proper side of the barricade.<p>

"Oh my god!"

"How awful..."

"I didn't get a good look," Nanako went on. "It was already in a body bag. Too bad."

"I'm not sure I'd want to see that," Chie admitted. "You must be naturally curious, huh? You didn't think twice about going past the barricade..."

"Hey, I said my dad's a detective!" Nanako said. "So... yeah! Crime is fascinating. I wonder who died, and how... It could be murder, or suicide, or just an accident, or..." She noticed the somewhat horrified look on Chie's face and added, "or maybe it was the yakuza!"

That did the trick. Chie chuckled, although a little nervously. "Y-yeah... Nothing like murder has ever happened around here. I hope it's nothing too horrible."

"I guess I'll have to watch the news tonight!" Nanako said loudly, still a little overexcited by the prospect of a death in the small town. "Hey, Chie, Yukiko, will you show me around town?"

"Yukiko and I were heading to Junes," Chie said, "but after this, I'm not sure I feel like shopping..."

"They told us to head home," Yukiko added. "Perhaps we should...?"

* * *

><p>Nanako got a little lost on the way home, to her own private shame—come on, it's not that big a town! It was almost dark by the time she arrived at the Seta residence. Inside, she was happy to discover that her little cousin had made it there safely. Souji was at the tea table, hard at work at something.<p>

She glanced at it while taking the spot across from him. "Man, homework on the first day? That's so not fair!" she declared. "We only had an assembly, and I'm in high school."

"It's cram school work..." the boy murmured.

"You go to cram school? You're only six!"

Souji looked down at his work.

"You're only six," she repeated. Besides that, there was only one middle school out here, and it was public, so it wasn't like he had to pass some crazy entrance exam for it.

"…I like cram school..."

Unless Aunt Seta enrolled him just to keep him busy. She wasn't home yet, anyway, if that was any indication. If she often worked late, cram school acted like daycare. She wouldn't be the last mother to do such a thing.

Nanako watched the boy work for several minutes then decided she should probably unpack. She excused herself to her room and spent a long time going through all the boxes.

The room had a three-tiered shelf, and she placed her entire collection of Loveline manga on the top shelf for prominent display. Under that shelf she set her stuffed animals after speaking a few words to each of them. Sure, she was sixteen years old, but hey, Chan-chan the bunny had been with her for all of them!

The most boring and longest part was hanging up her clothes in the closet. She didn't have too much variety, really—she'd mostly be wearing the school uniform every day anyway. But on her few days out of school, she had some nice blouses and skirts ready to wear. And some shorts and slacks for when she wasn't in the mood for skirts.

"U-umm..."

She turned while holding a hanger and a maroon pleated skirt. "Souji-kun?" The little boy was standing in the doorway. She hadn't closed the door.

"I got dinner..."

He _got_ dinner? She gave him an odd look, unsure what he meant, and then finished hanging up the skirt and followed him down to the kitchen.

There were three takeout boxes waiting for them on the table. Nanako stared. "Wait, did you leave the house to buy this?"

The little boy nodded, then climbed up into the chair, opened his box, and began to eat.

She was trying to imagine the boy—_six years old!_—going up to a food stall, ordering from the menu, and paying for it, too. Considering what she knew of the boy so far—he could cook—it was distressingly easy. The hardest part to imagine was him actually speaking loudly enough to tell the vendor what he wanted.

"Wh-what about your mom? Is she home yet?" Maybe she'd come home while Nanako had been unpacking.

He paused with his chopsticks full of rice halfway to his mouth. "She's working late."

Nanako nodded to herself. She was starting to get a bigger picture of how the Seta residence worked. It wasn't a pleasant picture, but there wasn't much helping it. A single-parent family with the only parent working long hours...

After they finished eating, Souji put the third box in the refrigerator, saving it for his mom to re-heat later when she finally got home. Then they returned to their earlier spots at the tea table. Souji seemed to have finished his cram school work since the table was now bare aside from a juice box.

"Mind if I watch the news?" Nanako asked.

Souji didn't answer, but he had already turned his body to face the TV.

As she expected, the mysterious death was top news. The police had identified the victim now—Mayumi Yamano, local TV announcer, who was involved in some scandal. The cause of death was uncertain, and the police were still investigating. The newscasters went on to speculate about both suicide and murder since the state of the body was so unusual—strung up on a television antenna on someone's roof like it was on display.

I almost saw the body, Nanako thought. She'd seen the antenna, at least...

Across from her, Souji released a small whimper, and Nanako realized her curiosity had caused her to make a terrible mistake. The boy was trembling in response to the news. "Hey, Souji-kun," she crooned. "Come over here, sit by me." She patted the empty space next to her.

He blinked at her and hesitated for a long moment before scooting over to her side. She hugged the boy close before he could escape. "I'm sorry... My dad's a detective so I wanted to know more about this case."

The boy stared at her hand around his waist. "My dad was a detective..." he said, no more than a whisper.

Nanako stiffened and then hugged him even closer. She'd known this, and yet she'd still made such a thoughtless mistake. Uncle Seta hadn't even been killed in the line of duty or anything, he'd—

A weird sound derailed her thoughts. Souji was humming.

He was humming... the Junes theme? Oh, yeah, the news had gone to a commercial break.

She rubbed his back and then turned off the television. That was enough of that for tonight.

* * *

><p>That night, right before bed, Nanako spent some time on the Internet using her cell phone to learn about Mayumi Yamano. Apparently a man named Taro Namatame had been having an affair with her. Disgraced by the scandal, Namatame had moved back to his hometown—which happened to be Inaba. Yamano had also been in town. She had been staying at the Amagi Inn.<p>

Nanako thought it over. Not enough details yet. The police still hadn't decided the cause of death, anyway.

It was probably murder, though, she decided. If it was suicide, how'd the woman get on top of the roof like that? Nanako hadn't seen a ladder, and she doubted the police would have moved it if one had been there. Not when the cameraman was still taking pictures.

Maybe the culprit was Namatame's wife? The police were probably investigating that already.

Still, it was something to talk about!

_Dear Daddy,_

_I'm in my room in Auntie's house. She seems to be a busy woman. Her son is cute, but don't worry he's way too young for me, tee hee._

_School's fun. I made a friend who told me she can kick through walls! (well, only fusuma)_

_Oh, and someone died and it's only my first day here! Don't worry I didn't do it. Neither did my friend, I promise!_

_What's that smell? It's my excitement! (evil laugh)_

_Hugs & Kisses_  
><em>Love<em>  
><em>Nanako<em>

She sent the same email to her mom, too. She'd probably get a kick out of her sense of humor. She usually did.

That done, she changed into her pajamas—a pink one-piece with patterns of yellow and purple flowers—and then went to bed. Though her mind was active after that exciting day, her sleep was somehow dreamless.

* * *

><p>[413: Wednesday]

When she woke up the next morning, she wondered if she might be in a time loop, because the day was starting out almost exactly the same as the previous day. She found Souji cooking eggs in the kitchen, and while he was flipping them, toast popped out of the toaster with a ding. She watched him once again move the stool to collect the toast...

To change the routine slightly, she let Souji cook the eggs while she poured the drinks. Spending time with him like this made her feel a little bit better after her mistake last night.

And it was drizzling again outside. "Here, Souji-kun," she said. She handed the boy her umbrella. It was a little larger than his own, but he should still be able to carry it.

"I already have one..." he murmured. He turned to the umbrella rack, but Nanako beat him to it.

"I want to use yours," she declared, taking it out with a flourish. "So you'll have to use mine!"

"But it's pink..." he said with a pout.

"Oh, you don't like pink? What color do you like?"

He blinked at her and didn't answer.

"Come on!" Nanako said. "You have to have a favorite color!"

"Favorite color...?" He frowned at the floor.

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple," she sang in tune to something she'd learned in grade school. "It's a rainbow~"

Souji made an unhappy sound.

"Oh well." Nanako sighed. "You can tell me later. We gotta get to school!"

The boy opened the pink umbrella, though he looked very put out about it. He stared at the gray umbrella Nanako was holding during the entire walk to the intersection. She felt guilty for stealing it, now. She was just trying to have some fun with him!

At the intersection, instead of continuing on her own way, she watched him go until he was out of sight. Really, she hoped gray wasn't his favorite color...

Using an umbrella meant for a child wasn't the best idea she'd had. She walked faster in an attempt to get to school before she got too wet. Other students, too, were moving quickly, trying to get out of the rain.

A sense of deja vu enveloped her when bicycle boy went careening past her, again struggling with an umbrella. "Watch out!" she shouted, and then sighed as she watched the boy crash right into a trash can.

He was still in the trash can, trying rather unsuccessfully to get out, when she walked by. She paused for a moment to watch, and something told her she should help him... but he was a boy, so she didn't.

This was their first day of actual class, if yesterday didn't count. Morooka actually lectured. He turned out to be their philosophy teacher. Other teachers rotated in throughout the day: Ms. Sofue, a history nut complete with Egyptian headdress, Mr. Kondo, who was the phys. ed. teacher and also doubled as the English teacher, and Mrs. Nakayama, the large-eyed math teacher who spent more time complaining about her husband than actually teaching.

After class, Nanako checked her phone and found that she had an email from Dad!

_Stay out of trouble._

She chuckled to herself. He knew her so well.

Oh, there was more.

_Be sensitive to your family. You know what I mean._

She swallowed. Y-yeah... She wished she didn't need that reminder but, hah, yeah, her dad really did know her well. And she'd already failed last night...

"Hey, umm, Nanako-san."

The boy who sat behind her was addressing her. She turned in her seat to face him. He was standing in the aisle between desks with his arms crossed.

"You tried to warn me when I crashed my bike this morning, didn't you?" he said. "I recognized your voice."

Ah, yes, floppy brown hair and orange headphones, this was bicycle boy all right. Nanako saw no reason to deny it. "Yeah, that was me." That was also me not helping you get out of that mess, she thought somewhat guiltily.

"Well, I just wanted to say... Thanks for trying." He was giving her a somewhat-shy smile.

"Ah, well, you really shouldn't try to bike with an umbrella in your hand!" she advised. "That's just asking for trouble."

"I live too far to walk to school."

"Maybe you should get up earlier."

He chuckled lightly. "You got me there. Say, this might seem sudden, but... Wanna grab some lunch with me? Ah, ah, I don't mean anything by it! You know, just as thanks. For trying."

Nanako considered it. Going anywhere with any boy might not be a good idea. But on the other hand... free lunch!

"Yosuke-kun! Are you flirting with the new girl already!?"

Nanako turned her head to see Chie stalking swiftly forward.

"Asking her out to lunch when you haven't paid up for my broken DVD! Honestly!" Chie had her hands on her hips.

"H-hey!" said the boy apparently named Yosuke. "Satonaka... I'll buy you lunch, too. How's that? A happy compromise, right?"

"Don't think you can make a satisfied customer out of me that easily!"

"I'll buy you steak," Yosuke added.

That was apparently what Chie was waiting for. "All right!" she declared. "Come on, Nanako! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Junes, huh? Well, Nanako had wanted to see more of the town, anyway, and she hadn't been this way at all.<p>

The Junes building dwarfed those around it. It was two stories high but seemed taller due to its massive neon sign. She could hear the theme music playing even from several buildings away.

"Aww, come on, the steak here probably isn't even real beef!" Chie complained when they were walking through the automatic doors at the entrance.

"Look, if I'm paying," Yosuke said, "we're going to use my store discount."

"So you can save 25 yen? Sheesh. Talk about a cheapskate, huh, Nanako?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

Nanako wasn't quite paying attention because _Junes._ There were several things she needed to acquire that she hadn't sent over from Tokyo. Nothing _really_ important—a mini flashlight, batteries, some extra school supplies, etc.—and oh! That skirt on display looked nice! Now that she was at the megastore, she kind of wanted to go shopping.

But it would have to wait. With a sigh, she let them lead her to the elevators and then the food court. They sat at a small round table and waited for Yosuke to bring them the steaks, which Chie continued to complain about even as she was stuffing her mouth.

Yosuke made some small talk about how he was also a transfer student from the city. His dad managed this particular branch of Junes, and as a result, Yosuke was sort of forced to work there part-time. Chie added that people had mixed feelings towards Junes because it competed with local business.

It was starting to get rather depressing, honestly, so Nanako decided she might as well segue it into something equally depressing but far more interesting to her. "So, about that announcer's death..."

"They say a student found the body," Yosuke contributed. "It was hanging from an antenna! Do you think maybe it was a warning?"

"What, like 'don't have affairs with married people or this happens'?" Nanako scoffed. She almost made an, 'It was the yakuza!' joke, but she had decided earlier in the morning to stop with that before it got old and she sounded like a broken record.

"You make it sound like an angry spirit did it or something. That's what my grandma thinks, anyway," said Chie through a mouthful of steak.

Nanako hmm'd. "Actually, you make it sound like it was murder."

"W-well, I don't know," Yosuke said, holding up his hands. "I'm just saying. There's no way something that weird could've been an accident. I mean, what was she even doing on the roof like that?"

"Maybe she was trying to fix the reception?" Chie suggested.

"In the middle of the night?"

"That wasn't even her house," Nanako added. "She was staying at the Amagi Inn."

"Oh! That's right!" Chie said. "No wonder Yukiko went right home from school. She probably has to help her family fend off a bunch of reporters."

"H-hey, it's Saki-senpai. Umm, I'll be back," Yosuke said. He stood up from the table and moved across the food court to another table, where he began to speak with a girl who had wavy light brown hair. She wore a Junes apron and seemed to be on her break.

"That's Saki Konishi. She goes to Yasogami, too. She's our senpai," Chie explained.

_Umm, yeah_. _That might be why he'd called her 'senpai.'_

They watched him speak with her for a bit. Then Chie commented, "I think Yosuke-kun likes her."

"Probably. He's got that 'I'm too nervous to make eye contact' thing going, doesn't he?" Nanako said.

Chie laughed. "Yeah, he does! It's kind of sweet though, isn't it?"

"I guess... Do they have anything in common besides working at Junes?"

"Uhh... I don't know," Chie admitted. "But you don't have to have much in common to like each other, right?"

Nanako thought of her own parents and decided that maybe she was right.

She eyed Saki warily—the upperclassman had stood up and was heading over to their table.

"So, you're Hana-chan's new friend, huh?" Saki said while taking in Nanako's appearance.

"Hana-chan?" Nanako asked.

"Oh, uh, umm, my family name is Hanamura, so..." Yosuke was blushing.

"He can be a bit of a pain, but you'll discover that he's a good guy once you get to know him," Saki said. "He doesn't have many friends, so I hope you'll get along."

Nanako puzzled that over. Something was off about the way she had said that. _Umm... Are you hoping that I'll try to steal him from you or something...?_

Nanako realized Saki was expecting a reply. "Well, I only met him today. I guess he sits behind me? I didn't really notice until he started talking to me."

"Yeah, he's like that." Saki laughed, a surprisingly merry sound.

"What does that even mean?" Yosuke asked, sounding a little sour at being talked about.

They ignored him. "By the way, Saki, how did you get your hair to be so wavy? It looks so soft, too...!" Nanako said, reaching out her hands but stopping herself before she went too far.

Saki fluffed up her hair with her fingers. She had nice long nails painted a light pink. "It's natural! My little brother has wavy hair, too. It runs in the family, I suppose! But... I wish it was straight like yours."

"Ah," said Nanako. "I think it's fate that we always hate the hair we have."

"Too true," said Chie. "I keep mine short because I don't like to deal with it, honestly."

"Whenever I want it straightened," Saki said, "I go to this place in Okina City. I'm sure they could do perms, too. It's called 'Uphairval' and it's behind the movie theater."

"Ooh, maybe I'll check it out!" Nanako said. She didn't know where exactly Okina City was, but she was sure she could find it on the Internet. Or ask Chie later.

"Mind if I...?" Saki said, reaching out for Nanako's hair. Nanako nodded, and Saki ran her fingers through it. "I think what you could use is a big ribbon. You need a bright color to emphasize the darkness of your hair."

"How about this?" Nanako said. She untied the school uniform's scarf from her wrist and handed it to her.

"Perfect," Saki purred. She tied it into Nanako's hair and then showed her how it looked in a compact mirror. "Yes?"

"Yes," Nanako agreed. "Thanks!"

"You know," Saki said conversationally, "I've always wondered what Hana-chan looks like with his hair natural."

"Dude, Senpai, no, it looks awful," Yosuke protested. "Especially when the roots come in."

"You dye your hair?" Chie exclaimed.

"What, like you don't bleach yours." Yosuke shook his head. "Come on, Chie!"

Saki stood up from her position behind Nanako. "Well, it was nice meeting you! But my break's over now. Back to the grind." She rolled her eyes and then sauntered back into the store.

Yosuke sighed as she walked away.

"Hey, Yosuke! Speaking of _love,_" said Chie. "I heard this rumor..."

* * *

><p>Because of how long she'd stayed out with Chie and Yosuke, plus her shopping trip after the two had left, Nanako was home even later than she had been yesterday.<p>

To her surprise, Aunt Seta was home, still in her business suit, and she was entertaining a guest at the kitchen table. He was a man in a somewhat worn-out suit and red tie. He sat across from her at the table.

"Oh, Nanako-chan," her aunt said upon seeing her. "There you are. How was school? I see you went to Junes. Did you go shopping with a friend?"

Nanako glanced down at the Junes bag in her hand, and then returned her gaze to the stranger at the table. "Y-yeah, actually..."

_...Who's that?_

Aunt Seta noticed her curiosity. "This is Tohru Adachi, a friend of my late husband's. This is Nanako Dojima, my niece whom I've told you about."

"It's nice to meet you," Adachi said, smiling faintly. "I hear your dad's a detective. So am I. I've been in the force for almost a year now..."

Ahhh. Nanako thought she'd recognized him. The cop who'd gotten sick at the crime scene yesterday.

Adachi scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, I was only stopping by to make sure the Setas are doing okay... I should be heading out now." He stood up from the table.

"You know you are always welcome here," Aunt Seta said warmly.

Adachi chuckled and inched his way out.

Huh, thought Nanako. Was... Aunt Seta husband-hunting? Well, she could do worse than a policeman. Uncle Seta had died near the end of last year, though, so Nanako thought it might be a little bit too soon, really. It was only April, after all.

However, little Souji probably needed a father figure of some sort...

"A friend of your husband's?" Nanako asked, curiosity too much to bear.

"Yes, his partner on the force, actually. When Adachi-san was transferred here, he was assigned under him."

_Be sensitive to your family._ Dad's warning rang in her mind. It wasn't time to ask about it. She could tell by the reminiscent look on her aunt's face. It was slowly morphing into sadness. Nanako thought fast on what she could do to change the subject, and then realized she was still holding the Junes bag. "Oh, Aunt Seta! Look what I found on sale today!" She brought out a set of colorful hair clips. "And I got this for Souji-kun!" It was a coloring book and set of crayons. The point of this was actually to see what color Souji favored, but her aunt didn't have to know that.

"That's very nice of you, dear. I'm afraid Souji has retreated to his room. He gets nervous when Adachi-san is around. Seeing him reminds him of..." The woman cut herself off abruptly and her face looked ashen.

"Y-yeah, I understand," Nanako said quickly. "Uh, I think I'll put these things in my room..."

Aunt Seta nodded.

However... Nanako didn't go to her room. She went to her cousin's room. The door was closed and she paused for a moment before it.

What would Souji be doing alone in his room? Sleeping already? Cram school work? Or just sort of sitting there, hugging a toy? Man, all of those options sounded sad...

Without further consideration, she opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.

Souji was sitting on the floor, holding the closed Loveline umbrella in his hands. Startled by her entrance, he dropped it and it rolled towards her. She picked it up and idly turned it over in her hands.

He opened and closed his mouth, silently asking what she was doing here.

She dropped to the ground in front of him. "Souji-kun! I went shopping and I got something for you!" She pressed the coloring book into his hands. The theme was dinosaurs because all kids love dinosaurs, right? "Here, I got crayons, too!" She opened up the crayon box and showed it to him.

He looked overwhelmed.

"Here," she said. "What's your favorite dinosaur?" She flipped through the pages in the book and showed him each one. "T-rex, right? Or maybe the long-neck one? Uh, I forget the name! Let's color one together, okay? Pick one, pick one!"

"Uh, umm... I like..." He lowered his gaze. "The ptero..."

"Ptero... oh! The flying one?"

He nodded.

"I think I saw one!" She flipped through the book and found the page with a pterodactyl on it. She tore out the page and handed it to him. "Hey, do you mind if I take the stegosaurus? I always liked that one because it has spikes on its tail!"

Souji didn't answer, so she went ahead and tore that one out for herself. Now the boy was sort of just looking at the paper in his hands. She sighed and then carefully pushed him over to his short work table, put the paper on it, and then placed the crayon box next to him. When he still made no move, she took out a crayon at random—forest green—and put it in his hand and started making him color until he finally began to work on his own.

Then she took a seat across from him and started coloring her stegosaurus.

"You know, Souji-kun," she began conversationally while coloring the spines a vibrant purple, "dinosaurs aren't around anymore. What's the word for that...?" She pretended to think.

"Eh...exti...nct," the boy mumbled.

"Yeah! That's it. I forget what happened to them, though."

"M-meteor... It was a meteor."

Nanako looked surprised. "Oh, yeah! Isn't that sad? A great big rock from space, and then no more dinosaurs?"

Souji didn't answer—he was too preoccupied by coloring his pterodactyl. He'd even switched colors without Nanako's prompting and was now using a dark red.

Nanako's dinosaur was a bit bigger, so she colored it quickly to keep pace with the boy. He still beat her, though, because she began to combine colors to shade the body. It was probably the ugliest stegosaurus ever—its back spines were alternating pink, purple and yellow, and the body was both pink and green, but she didn't really care as she put on the finishing touch by giving it a big smile.

While she was still working, she hadn't quite noticed that the boy was staring rather wistfully at his pterodactyl. "I wish the dinosaurs were still around," he suddenly whispered.

She paused, and then she put her hand over his. "Me too."

* * *

><p>When Nanako returned to the living room later, she found that her aunt was watching the news from the couch. Nanako took a spot at the tea table and watched the end of the segment with her.<p>

A boy was being interviewed, but his face was blurred and his voice distorted so that he sounded kind of like an otherworldly demon. It made Nanako hunch her shoulders. "I dunno," he was saying, "when I saw her hanging there, I figured it was suicide. That scandal, you know."

"Ah, so you recognized the body as soon as you saw it?"

"Who wouldn't? She's all over the news..."

Aunt Seta sighed. "Do you want to keep watching this, Nanako-chan? It's so... morbid."

Nanako told her she could turn it off.

She expected her aunt to try and make some small talk, but she didn't. Instead, she flipped open her phone and sighed again. Not long after, she told Nanako that she was going to retire early since tomorrow was going to be another busy day for her at the office.

Nanako nodded. She expected this would soon become a theme.

* * *

><p>Alone in her room, Nanako put on her pajamas, got into her futon, and sighed because she knew she wasn't going to fall asleep very easily. She knew Chie was going to ask her about whether she'd tried it out or not...<p>

'They say that if you're alone and watch a turned-off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you'll see your soulmate on the screen!'

She considered just going to sleep and lying about it in the morning, but she didn't enjoy lying all that much except when she was feeling vindictive or when she was in real trouble. Loveline's catchphrase was Truth and Justice, anyway...

She checked her phone's clock, shading her eyes against the blinding light the screen produced. Well, by the time she'd finished her homework this evening, it was already a little past eleven, so...

She set her alarm for 11:55 just in case and rolled over in her futon, but she didn't need it. A few minutes before midnight, she shuffled herself out of bed and in front of the TV and waited rather impatiently. Yep, nothing happening. It was probably just people seeing their own reflection. Were people that dumb? Or that desperate for love?

She turned away and cursed herself for not being logical about this when suddenly the TV turned on, accompanied by the sound of static. A silhouette appeared on it—and it wasn't her own reflection. It seemed to be male. The hair was short, somewhat wavy. She squinted and then the TV turned off before she could draw any further conclusions.

Huh, she actually had a soulmate? That was—

She hissed and clutched her head as pain suddenly shot through it.

_I am thou..._

Nanako moaned and twisted her body.

_Thou art I..._

She pounded her feet, but it wouldn't stop.

_Thou art the one who opens the door..._

The pain faded, but... what door, what the hell...?

The TV was off. It was off. She'd never once turned it on, and...

She reached out to touch the screen, not knowing what possessed her to do so. The screen rippled at the touch, and she felt less resistance than should be there. It was supposed to be solid glass...! Her hand went right through the screen. Something on the other side grabbed her hand and tried pulling her in.

Instinctively she fought against it, flailing her free hand around the TV's frame so that she couldn't be pulled in—at least, not without her arm snapping off. She worried that was going to happen when, suddenly, whatever it was gave up, and she went flying backwards onto her work table.

She rubbed her head where it had hit the table and winced. Damn, she was going to have a goose egg tomorrow.

She stared at the TV. As if mocking her, it now only showed her reflection.

Her mind was trying to tell her that hadn't just happened, but she knew better than to believe it. It was just that her mind had come up with absolutely no logical explanation, so it had simply given up altogether.

She... had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. She kept wanting to touch the screen to see if it would happen again...

_I'm the one who opens the door? What door? And what's with that 'ye olde' language...?_

* * *

><p>[Next Chapter: Rule #1<p>

Nanako's new friends learn the hard way that she should be taken seriously.]


	3. Chapter 3 - Rule Number 1

[4/14: Thursday]

It was raining yet again the next morning. This town might not be a ghost town, but it was decidedly gloomy.

Nanako handed Souji his gray umbrella, and though he took it, he kept staring at her Loveline umbrella. She moved it from one hand to the other and his eyes followed it. "Souji-kun, would you like to use my umbrella again?"

The boy's pale face colored. She barely had time to notice it before he was looking down at his feet. He shook his head.

"Are you surrrre? I really don't mind. Almost everyone at my school uses the transparent ones so I kind of stick out with this."

He looked up at her hopefully. She handed it to him without a word, and then gently took the gray umbrella out of his unresisting hand.

She stepped out into the rain and opened the gray umbrella. "There... now I have a little bit of Souji-kun with me at school!"

He looked embarrassed. It was adorable.

"Say, Souji-kun. Do you watch Loveline?" she asked while they were walking to the intersection.

He didn't answer.

"It's my favorite," she admitted. She quoted a line from it: "'We're on the case!'"

She stopped in her tracks. The boy was smiling. It was faint, but he was smiling while he looked up at the silly pink umbrella.

She almost squealed and gave him a hug.

This Sunday, she vowed, running to catch up to him, we will watch the new episode of Loveline together.

* * *

><p>The school was abuzz with gossip over the announcer's death. Nanako was interested at first, but it soon became clear that no one had any facts.<p>

"Y-yo, umm... Nanako-san..."

"Hmm?" Nanako turned in her desk to face Yosuke, who was standing next to his desk with his arms crossed, and boy, did he look pretty awful, like he hadn't had much sleep at all. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair hadn't been combed. Maybe his TV had done a number on him, too.

"It's not important, but, last night, on the TV, I..." He looked away and didn't look back. "N-nevermind. It's too weird..."

Nanako opened her mouth to reply, but Chie suddenly ran up. "Hey Yosuke!" she said. "I heard Saki-senpai and her little brother were the ones who discovered the body."

"No wonder Saki-senpai's been so down lately," Yosuke remarked, sounding mournful. "You know, I think she skipped class today."

"By the way, did you try it?" Chie asked, just as Nanako had predicted. "The Midnight Channel?"

"Yeah, my TV tried to eat me," Nanako replied. "Did yours?"

Chie laughed and Nanako realized that she thought it was a joke. "What I saw... Well, there was a guy on there. But I don't know who it was. Yosuke, did you see anything?"

"Huh? Oh... No."

Nanako narrowed her eyes. Yosuke was avoiding eye contact. He was lying.

"Well, the guy I saw had kind of short, wavy hair," Nanako said.

"Hey, mine too!" Chie exclaimed. "Wait, do we have the same soulmate? Does this mean I have to fight you for it?"

"Nah," said Nanako. "I'm thinking: threesome."

Chie laughed in astonishment. "Ah, I don't think I know you well enough to share like that..."

"Wh-wh..." Yosuke began and then shortly stopped.

"Hmm?"

"Wh-what about... f-foursome?"

"There's no way we'd include you, Yosuke!" Chie yelled, making a fist.

"Th-that was a j-joke!" Yosuke stepped back instinctively from her wrath.

Nanako eyed him shrewdly. "Are you saying... you saw the same guy too?"

"Y-yeah..." he admitted. His eyes were downcast and his face a little pink from embarrassment.

"Huh," said Chie, and that's all she had to say.

"But both of you—your TVs didn't try to eat you?" Nanako queried. "And you didn't hear any weird voice about opening doors?"

"What do you mean, try to eat you?" Yosuke asked.

"I touched the screen and my hand went through! And then something tried to pull me in."

"I'm pretty sure you're pulling my leg right now," Yosuke said. "Yakuza girl."

"Oh god, are people calling me that now? I suppose that's my own fault." Nanako sighed. "But I'm not lying! I'll show you right now! Where's the nearest TV?"

"You know, Junes has some really big TVs," Chie remarked. "I bet you could go all the way in."

Nanako just hoped whatever had tried to pull her in on the other side of it wouldn't try again. "Yeah, sure! Let's do it!"

Chie and Yosuke exchanged indulgent glances, and in the face of their disbelief, Nanako felt her determination grow. She stood up and marched out of the room, not even waiting to see if they would follow.

* * *

><p>Nanako stood back with her hands on her hips while the two inspected the biggest TV on display. "Yep, solid glass," said Chie.<p>

"Or whatever they're made of nowadays," said Yosuke. "Some of them feel like plastic."

"Has to be plastic. It's from Junes," Chie teased.

"That's not going to stop you from buying one from here, isn't it?"

They bickered some more until Nanako interrupted. "Are you done making fun of me?"

"I dunno," said Yosuke, turning towards her. He crossed his arms in front of the large TV. "It's kind of—h-hey!"

Nanako pushed him back until he fell all the way through the TV's screen.

She turned away and dusted her hands off with satisfaction. It was the easiest way to show them both, really, and served as a little bit of payback for not believing her.

What was the worst that could happen...?

"H-holy cow!" Chie gasped. "Wha—Where'd he go?" The short-haired girl looked behind the TV and called for Yosuke, but there was no answer. "Uh, umm, Nanako...! He's... he's not coming back out."

"Give it another minute," Nanako told her.

They waited a minute. They waited two minutes. On the way to three, it was too much for Chie. After psyching herself up, she touched the screen herself, but it was solid. "Wh-why can you do it and not me? M-maybe he needs you to bring him back? N-Nanako...!"

"You have a point," Nanako admitted. "He might be stuck on the other side. Well, you wanna come with?"

Chie gaped at her and then looked at the TV. Before she could say anything, Nanako pushed her in and then jumped in after.

* * *

><p>Nanako wished she could say that she landed gracefully onto her feet. She didn't, but she managed to turn the awkward fall into a relatively painless tumble.<p>

She took stock of where she was. Yellow. The place was very... yellow. And foggy, too. They were on some sort of center stage, like for a TV show. Metal catwalks led off into the distance, obscured by the fog. There were chalk outlines drawn on the floor. Like a crime scene...

"Yosuke!" Chie shouted, nabbing her attention.

The boy was cowering in the fetal position on the floor. "Ch-Chie?" He lifted his head up and looked incredibly relieved to see them. Well, except for Nanako. "You-you threw me in here! Th-there's no way out!"

"Have you looked?" Nanako asked, placing a fist on her hip and tilting her body.

"No...?"

"I don't blame you," said Chie. "This place is seriously creeping me out. What is it? Some TV studio?"

"Makes sense, I guess," said Yosuke. "We're in a TV, after all. We're in a TV." He repeated it like a mantra several more times. "Nanako-san, why are we in a TV?"

"I guess I opened the door like that voice said." She put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, we aren't going to figure anything out by staying here. Let's explore."

"Yeah." He shot her a strange look and then nodded. "You're right. This place... Why is there fog in a TV?"

"It's pretty thick, too," Chie noted. "Which way?"

Nanako chose a direction at random and headed off.

After a very long walk—so long that they almost stopped to go back—they found some sort of apartment building. Every door they tried was locked, but the door on the farthest end was wide open. Without making any fanfare of it, Nanako walked right in.

There was a bed, a fridge, a potted plant, and a chair. What drew Nanako's attention were the dozens of posters on the wall. The posters were of the same woman, and in each one, her head had been scratched completely off. It was kind of horrific, like this was a crime scene and the criminal had been psychotic or obsessed with one particular woman. The red and yellow paint splatters all over the walls did little to change that opinion.

"That kind of arrangement is never good," Yosuke commented.

Huh...? Oh.

Above the chair was a scarf acting as a noose.

Nanako hadn't even noticed that. Her powers of observation still needed some improvement.

"Yikes," she murmured. Was someone around here thinking of suicide...? W-well, who else would be around here? What was this place, anyway? And why was she continuing to think in terms of crime scenes?

"Argh, I can't take it anymore!"

When Nanako turned to look, Yosuke was doing the infamous 'have to pee' dance.

"Oh, just go in the corner," she told him. "I don't think anyone is living here anymore anyway. The bed hasn't been used... ever, as far as I can tell."

"Eww, gross!" Chie protested when Yosuke actually moved to the corner.

Yosuke whimpered and looked over his shoulder. "I won't do it with you two watching—!"

"Just whip it out and go," Nanako said. "Guys are so lucky. You can pee anywhere!"

"Just whip it out...!?" Yosuke yelped.

"I don't want to see that!" Chie cried.

"Well, neither do I, actually," Nanako admitted. "Let's give him some privacy."

Nanako left the apartment. She looked over the railing, but couldn't see much of anything through the thick fog. She was starting to feel a bit ill... She stepped away from the railing before she got too dizzy and fell over.

"We still don't know how to get home," Chie said, joining her outside the apartment.

"Yeah, that is a problem... Let's go back to the... uh... starting point?"

They started the long journey back without Yosuke since he was taking so long. A few minutes later, they heard him running somewhere in the fog behind them, so they slowed until he caught up. Nanako noted his faintly relieved smile upon seeing them, which prompted her to remark, "Feel better now?"

"Y-yeah..." he admitted. "I'm good. And I'm ready to go."

They eventually made it all the way back to the stage, and Nanako took some time to investigate it more thoroughly. The outlines on the stage floor weren't done in chalk; they seemed to be painted on as some sort of avant-garde art or something. White and black rings were painted on the ground, too, originating from the stage's center. It looked much like a target. Well, it was where they'd fallen in. She wondered if other people had fallen in, and then got lost in the fog...

"Any luck?" Yosuke asked after a few minutes. He'd tried circling the stage, but apparently he hadn't found anything.

"I'm thinking of climbing up on the catwalks," Nanako told him. "Maybe we can turn a spotlight on or something."

"Yeah... I'm not sure I want to volunteer for that. But I can help you up."

"You just wanna look up my skirt."

"N-no, I didn't mean that. I'm just tired all of a sudden." Yosuke wasn't lying; he looked tired, too.

"I was just teasing." Nanako tried to smile at him reassuringly but she was starting to feel it herself. Chie was already sitting down with her legs stretched out in front of her on the chalk outlines, and Nanako thought she might join her.

Then Yosuke's body tensed up. "Th-there's something there!"

Nanako turned and Chie got to her feet. A shape appeared in the fog and moved towards them. It was large and round and... the silhouette looked like _a freaking bear!_

"Guys, run!" Nanako shouted.

"Run? Where?" Yosuke cried, glancing around them.

The apartment had been a dead end, so...

"Just... follow me!" She grabbed his hand and yanked him behind her, and let go when he got the idea. "Chie, come on!"

"R-right!"

They rushed headlong into the fog, with the bear or whatever it was right on their tail. Nanako wasn't sure it was a bear anymore because it made this _sweep-swash_ sound and she had no idea what animal on this earth would make such a noise. Maybe, maybe it wasn't of this earth...

And then it started talking at them.

"Grr! If you're running, you must be guilty! You must be the ones throwing people in here!"

"Nanako-san! It really wants you," Yosuke gasped. He followed it with a very desperate laugh.

"Rawr! You admit it!?"

"Sh-shut up and run!" said Nanako.

They ran for what seemed like a very long time but was probably only a couple of minutes. Then the creature spoke again, sounding worried. "S-stop!" it cried. "Don't go that way! Oh, why are you going that way?"

Nanako caught Yosuke's eyes, and then Chie's. They nodded and continued in that direction. If their pursuer did not want them to go there, that meant it was the perfect place to go.

"Th-the Shadows are that way! The strongest ones I've seen! Oh, don't go there!"

As they continued, the color of the fog gradually changed from yellow to a soft periwinkle. The fog also seemed thicker here, and Nanako noticed that the floor had changed. It was now formed of large red tiles framed in black. She slowed while panting to catch her breath. Yosuke stayed behind her and turned to face the direction they had come, his fists raised, as if he might try to protect them from whatever was after them, but Nanako could tell he was trembling. She was glad he had peed earlier.

"This place looks familiar," she said. "I think... I think we can stop running." She no longer heard the sweep-swash sound. They were no longer being followed.

"Familiar how?" Yosuke asked between gasps for breath.

"I had a dream and I think I was here... Well, I remember lots of fog. It was just the other night, my first night here in Inaba. I remember a voice." But she didn't quite remember what it said. And her hands felt empty. A naginata, yeah, she'd had that, and she'd attacked something in the fog with it...!

Something stirred within her. _I shouldn't be here._ She paused. _Not yet, anyway._

"You said you heard a voice last night, when you watched the TV," Yosuke remarked. "Was it the same one?"

She shook her head, but with all the fog, he probably couldn't see it, so she said, "No. I'm not sure, but—"

She shuddered as a wave of pure malice suddenly hit her.

"N-Nanako?" Chie's voice quavered. The girl took hold of Nanako's arm for support. She must have felt it too; this place was dangerous. "Y-Yosuke, are you still there?"

"Y-yeah, but I can't really see either of you with all the fog around us. It's... Nanako-san... It's getting hard to breathe, too."

"Do you think we should go back?" Chie asked.

No one answered. The unspoken question: which way is back...?

The fog swirled around them, and the periwinkle color was gradually darkening into an ominous deep purple.

"Nanako-san, you're really from Tokyo, right?" Yosuke asked. "Uh, just checking."

"Y-yeah," she said. "I really don't know why I could go into the TV. I just could. I swear I've touched TVs back home and nothing like this has ever happened."

"I... I don't know if that's reassuring," Yosuke said honestly.

There was a strange scraping sound like metal-on-metal in the distance, and it was starting to get closer. The almost overwhelming feel of imminent danger grew with it.

"Yosuke, Chie..." Nanako said. "I'm sorry for bringing you here. I'm really, really sorry."

Although they didn't answer, the air was thick with tension—but it was perhaps not as thick as the fog.

With the sound of flapping wings, the fog was temporarily driven away, which revealed a dozen or so different monsters facing them, including several large eagles, the source of the sudden wind. A military tank, a giant hourglass, a beetle the size of a car, a flying book, a couple of cherubs with bows and arrows, a statue of an arm carrying a sword, and... more, Nanako didn't have time to see because suddenly the things were charging towards them.

Yosuke squeaked, his knees banging together in fear, but he tried to put himself in front of Nanako and Chie as the horde came upon them.

Then the familiar sweep-swash rang out, and there was a red and blue bear... _thing_ in between them and the monsters. It twirled, and a stack of three televisions appeared in front of it. "H-hurry!" it shouted, waving its stubby arms. "Go in there, escape!"

They needed no further encouragement. Nanako pushed Chie and Yosuke in, and an arrow whizzed over her head while she was struggling to get herself through. The bear came to her aid, pushing her swiftly into the screen, and she barely managed to thank the creature before her head went through.

* * *

><p>They collapsed in a heap in Junes' electronics department and laid there gasping on the floor for several minutes, not caring if anyone came upon them and wondered what they'd been doing to become so exhausted.<p>

"Nanako," Yosuke moaned while pulling himself slowly up to his feet. "Please never do that to me again."

"Yeah, I think I've learned my lesson," Nanako replied. "Rule #1: No pushing people into TVs."

Chie got up and started talking about posters and enka singers, but Nanako was too tired to even listen anymore. All she could think about was her futon and how far away she was from it right now. She began to shuffle towards the elevator in a zombie-like manner, counting down each step. The others followed after her, equally exhausted and equally uninterested in talking about what had just happened.

When Nanako got home, she could barely manage to eat the takeout yakisoba Souji had bought for her. Whoa, was she so late that her dinner was this cold? How long had they been inside that TV? The events of the day seemed so unreal now.

"Are you okay?" Souji-kun asked her after watching her struggle with the chopsticks. His gray eyes were big with concern. Despite the circumstances behind the exhaustion, she was happy to see that he cared about her.

"Feeling a little sick," she admitted. "Maybe it's the rain."

She finished the yakisoba and barely managed the strength to put the takeout box in the trash. When she made to go upstairs, though, Souji stopped her. "H-here," he said, holding out a small bottle. She took it and blinked at the label. Cold medicine.

"Thanks," she told him, pulling off a smile that she didn't feel, even though she really was grateful. "I think I'm going to bed early."

He nodded. "Get better..."

She patted him on the head before climbing the stairs to her room. Ugh, were there really so many steps...? She shuffled past the work table and collapsed into bed without changing at all.

* * *

><p>[Next Chapter: Perso-what-now?<p>

Nanako and a friend revisit this 'TV World' to investigate further.]


	4. Chapter 4 - Perso-what-now?

[4/15: Friday]

The next morning, Nanako felt much better, but still a little queasy. She wondered how the other two, Chie and Yosuke, were faring with what happened yesterday, and worried a little about facing them in class. What exactly did they think about it all? Did they blame her? Would they believe her when she said she had no answers? Worst of all, what if they wanted to forget about it and pretended like nothing had happened?

She tapped the TV screen in her room, and she could definitely still put her hand through it. It hadn't all been a dream or a drug-induced trip caused by the steak at Junes. Yesterday had indeed happened.

She idly checked her phone and remembered Dad's message from yesterday. _Stay out of trouble._

Dad, she thought while she stared at the phone, I don't even know anymore.

Well, Nanako was pretty good at rolling with the punches, so to speak, so she pocketed the phone and headed downstairs to face the day.

Though usually she was the one doing the punching.

* * *

><p>Students exchanged rumors on the way to school, but, lost in her own thoughts, Nanako didn't really pay attention. She didn't see Yosuke crash his bike, either, but that could have been because she was running a little late. She tended to move slower when she was in a pensive mood like this.<p>

In fact, Nanako was barely on time for class. Morooka tsk tsk'd at her while she walked to her desk. Chie was already seated and said nothing when Nanako approached. Yosuke, too, was giving her a strange look, one she couldn't identify, as she sat down in front of him.

"You okay?" Nanako whispered to Chie when the teacher was busy with a lecture on Buddhism.

"Y-yeah," the short-haired girl replied. "I think so, anyway. I think I'll stay away from TVs for a while." She smiled, though it looked a little strained. "I'm more worried about Yosuke."

Nanako turned her head, but it was hard to get a good look at the boy behind her. Yosuke's head was down, flat against the desk, though his hand was active and moving as he pretended to write stuff down so as not to attract the teacher's attention.

She'd have to talk to him during a break.

Nanako turned back to Chie. "About that—" she began.

"Dojima!" Morooka called. "Since your mouth is already open, answer me this. What are the three higher trainings of the Eightfold Path?"

"Bluh," Nanako began eloquently before she spied the answer on the board behind him. "W-wisdom, conduct, and concentration!"

"Good, you can read," the teacher replied, rolling his eyes. "And which factor would you say you are violating when you talk in class?"

"Right speech," she murmured, blushing despite herself. "Because talk shouldn't be idle."

"That's right. Words are important, my dear," he said softly. "Eh, that's enough, Dojima. Sit down."

Chie gave her a thumbs up as she took her seat.

* * *

><p>When lunch finally came, Nanako turned to Yosuke and asked him how he was holding up. He looked even worse than the previous day, actually—his eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy rings under them.<p>

"Umm, actually, did either of you watch," – he paused and glanced at the other students eating lunch in the classroom, and then lowered his voice just a little – "the, uh, TV last night?"

"I was way too tired after our adventure," Nanako replied. "I went straight to sleep. And I didn't dream of anything, as far as I can remember. Thank god for that, right?" She smiled with more enthusiasm than she felt.

Chie chipped in by saying she also slept like a rock.

"I couldn't sleep," Yosuke said. "It was raining, so I stayed up and watched it at midnight. It was... It was Saki-senpai's little brother, Naoki Konishi. He looked like he was writhing in pain. Then he disappeared from the screen."

"That's... pretty weird," said Nanako, not sure what to make of it.

"I think he's the same person who was on the night before, too. The one we all saw."

"Oh! You might be right," said Chie. "He did have the same kind of look that Naoki-kun has."

"Wavy hair?" That's all Nanako could contribute, since she had never seen Naoki before.

They entertained some ideas as to why he might be on the mysterious Midnight Channel. They decided he probably wasn't their soulmate.

Then the school answered the question for them. An announcement rang out in the middle of their afternoon classes, calling all teachers to bring their students to the auditorium for an unplanned assembly.

After everyone was shuffled into the rather small auditorium—it lacked chairs even for teachers—the principal, a sagely-looking old man with an impressive white beard, announced that Naoki Konishi had passed away early in the morning. He gave no details, only exhorted the students to support the Konishi family and aid the police if they had any information.

The students, however, had a field day with rumors and speculation. Nanako sifted through them for the facts and discovered that Naoki had died in a manner eerily similar to the announcer lady, Mayumi Yamano.

Nanako put her hand on Chie's arm. "We have to go back."

"Huh?" Chie looked up from her phone. "Back where...? Oh, there? Nanako... I don't know..."

"He showed up on TV, and then he died. I can go into TVs. I think there's a connection." Okay, maybe it was tenuous at best, but...

To her relief, Chie agreed. "Y-yeah, actually. I heard someone say they saw the announcer on the Midnight Channel a few days ago, and she's dead now, too."

"And that room we found was related to Ms. Yamano," Yosuke added. "You remember those posters."

"What posters?" Nanako asked, and Yosuke reminded her that the posters in the apartment with the faces cut out were of the enka singer who was Taro Namatame's wife. Ms. Yamano might have resented the woman for being married to her lover.

"Oh, right." Nanako nodded. "Well, then. We're in agreement, right? We're going back in."

"W-whoa, I'm not sure," Chie protested. "I mean... Well, I was going to do something with Yukiko today, but she already texted that she's busy... I guess we could go back, but that place seems like it's dangerous! You remember those... those... whatever they were!"

"And what was with that bear?" Yosuke mused. "It saved us, even though it was chasing us. Honestly, I'm not sure what's going on, but... We can't ignore this, can we? I mean, only Nanako can go in, right?"

"Right. It's like my duty now!" Nanako made a fist and held it up in determination. _We're on the case!_

* * *

><p>They headed straight for Junes, and Nanako split the team to collect supplies from different areas of the store before meeting up at the electronics department. Chie was to find some travel-sized water bottles and snacks, in case the trip took longer than expected, and Yosuke was to find a survival kit and maybe some sort of weapon.<p>

Nanako herself... She went to the electronics section ahead of them to brood in front of the TVs. She touched each and every one, and she found that all of them could be entered. It was quite puzzling that she had this power. She was trying to remember the last time she'd touched a TV screen without her hand going through, and came up blank. Probably back home in Tokyo. She'd dusted the TV screen in the living room whenever her parents asked her to help clean.

She was wondering if she should ask her parents if this ran in the family or something when both Yosuke and Chie showed up together. Apparently they'd met each other at the elevator. Chie had a small duffel bag full of supplies and Yosuke carried a golf club in one hand and a portable first-aid kit in the other.

He also had a rope tied around his waist. Nanako asked him about it.

"Umm, well," he answered, "I thought that someone—well, Chie, actually—could stay behind and hold the other end so that we have a lifeline to get back out of there."

Nanako tilted her head to consider this idea. It took her some time to respond, and Yosuke stuttered and tried to further explain his reasoning, but she cut him short. "No, you're right. We need a way back out. But I'm thinking I want Chie with me."

"Uh, I'm fine with not going in!" Chie said.

Nanako looked at her. Chie had seemed reluctant earlier, that was true. "Yeah, but you know some kung fu. I might need that in there. Yosuke, do you know how to bring a man to his knees with a well-placed kick? No, I didn't think so." Yosuke began to protest, but Nanako headed him off. "Besides, you already have the rope tied around you. It's perfect. You'll be our anchor to the real world."

"I'd rather come with..." he said, looking forlorn.

"You were very brave yesterday," she told him. "But this is an important job, too."

"Y-yeah, I know..."

She took the golf club from him and tested it out as a weapon, very careful not to swing near any TVs, though she saw Yosuke wince reflexively anyway. It didn't feel quite right, but it would do for now. "All right, Chie. Let's go."

Nanako took the first-aid kit and the free end of the rope from Yosuke and guided Chie towards the TV.

The two of them landed right where she had hoped: the same TV stage with the target and human outlines painted on the floor.

And... the rope plan worked! She saw the rope trailing off into the sky, well, at least as far up as she could see in the dense fog. Good, they could climb out if they really needed to. She'd hoped to be able to bring the rope with her, kind of like that one Greek dude had used string to navigate that maze in that one myth, but it wasn't long enough, so she just left it to hang there.

Hmm, maybe she should ask Morooka what myth she was thinking of. He was sure to know. The ancient Greeks were famous for philosophy, after all.

Anyway, her next move was... She took out a compass and checked it. It didn't seem to be able to find north. She sighed. So much for that idea.

"So, we're back here. Now what?" Chie asked with a sigh of her own.

"I'm thinking!"

There was no sign of that talking bear, anyway. She hoped the monsters hadn't, well, killed it...

Nanako lifted her head. "All right! Let's go."

Fortunately, Chie didn't ask and just followed her lead. Nanako headed in the complete opposite direction from where the apartment had been. They weren't all that far from the stage when they found themselves on a paved street.

"This seems kind of familiar," Chie said after they'd walked a little farther down the street. "It's hard to tell with all this fog, though..."

"You've dreamed of this place?" Nanako stopped in her tracks. Was she not alone in this weirdness now?

"N-no, I mean... Here!" Chie stopped by a red wooden pole. When Nanako squinted up and realized it was a gate to a shrine. "This is the shrine in the central shopping district. This whole street. It's part of Inaba!"

"Oh. Uhh, I haven't been to the central shopping district yet." Well, not on foot, anyway. Nanako was aware that she'd driven past it on her first day, but she'd been too sick after the Gas Station Incident to even bother looking out the window.

They walked further down the replica shopping district when suddenly an announcement blared out through the fog. "At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day!"

"Umm," said Chie.

"Yeah, even I know that Junes isn't in the shopping district," said Nanako.

Nanako walked a few more steps when she heard a shudder-inducing squelching sound coming from somewhere in front of her. Something the size of a bean-bag chair flew through the fog towards her.

It was... a zebra-striped ball with a huge black tongue and rows of neat teeth that a dentist would approve of. The ball defied gravity, floating in the air as if hovering on hummingbird wings.

Nanako backed away, but it had seen her somehow even though it had no eyes, and then she noticed there was a second one. "Ch-Chie! Monsters!"

She hefted the golf club—god, this way too bulky to use on a regular basis—and brought it up in a side swing. It connected, and the tongue-ball went flying through the air like a nightmarish golf ball.

She whirled to see the second one bearing down on her. She tried to guard with the golf club, but there was so little time. She hunched her shoulders to endure a lick when suddenly the tongue-ball squealed, knocked away by a furious kick from Chie.

Nanako barely had time to thank her when the squelching sound repeated and several more of the tongue-balls came soaring at them. Chie tried to punch one, but it dodged, and having expected the attack to connect, she was unbalanced. The enemies took advantage of this to lick her with their enormous tongues. She screamed and went down.

Nanako tried to club them off of her friend, but more and more appeared, and one turned its attention to her. The big black tongue came right at her head and she thought _no, not the face_ and then time seemed to stand still.

_I am thou..._

She cried out as her head began to pound. Wind swept around her, blowing the fog away, but not, unfortunately, the monsters.

_Thou art I..._

_From the sea of thy soul, I cometh..._

There was a card in her hand. She crushed it instinctively.

"Persona!"

A female figure in a flowing white gown appeared in front of her. Her arms were bound to her body by white belts, and she was blindfolded by red cloth. A white shawl billowed out behind her, and her mostly featureless gown had a striking line of scarlet running down either side of her body. Black hair whipped around her head like streamers.

"I am Izanami… I learned at Yomotsu Hirasaka the fickleness of the heart."

The goddess seemed to look at Nanako through the blindfold.

"Tell me, am I wrong…?"

Nanako gasped, and then Izanami turned to the monsters and lifted a finger. Geysers of water shot out under the tongue-ball monsters, knocking them high into the foggy air. Nanako squinted, but none of the monsters came back down.

Izanami faded from sight.

Silence broke out over the street to be interrupted by the Junes theme ringing out.

"'At Your Junes,'" Nanako sang under her breath. She shook her head.

Chie squeaked her name behind her.

Nanako turned and smiled. She imagined the card and crushed it again, and Izanami appeared once more for a few moments.

"What is that...? How did you...?"

As Nanako summoned the goddess yet again, she realized this was only one small part of something huge.

* * *

><p>The Junes building in the replica shopping district was so large that it extended into the street, effectively blocking the way forward. Nanako looked up as far as the fog would let her, and the building seemed to go on forever, built with far more than the two stories it was supposed to have.<p>

"This is really creepy," Chie whined. "I want to go back."

"Not yet," said Nanako. "Look, I found a path."

It led to Junes's entrance, but the doors were blocked off, so they couldn't enter the megastore. Turning around, though, Nanako found a much smaller building. "Konishi Liquors?"

A disembodied and unfamiliar voice spoke to them. "Saki went to work for 'the enemy.' I didn't care. A job's a job, right? It's not like they wouldn't hire someone else."

"That's Naoki-kun's voice!" Chie gasped.

"But I wished she didn't, only because..."

A man's voice shouted angrily, "Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!"

Naoki's voice continued, "I had to hear them complain about it every damned day."

"W-wow, I knew some people hate Junes," said Chie, "but... I was pretty happy when it opened, to be honest."

"'Every day's great,'" Nanako murmured. "You just can't beat their sales."

"I wish Saki would run away with her college boyfriend already so I can stop hearing it..."

"Oh, damn," said Nanako. "I kind of thought Yosuke didn't have a chance."

"Nanako!" Chie hissed, appalled at her poor taste.

They waited, but Naoki didn't seem to have any more to say.

Nanako crossed her arms and tapped her foot while thinking. "Naoki-kun is dead. Why are we hearing his voice? Is it his memories or something? I wonder... if he died in here."

"Wh-what, to those monsters?" Chie asked, shuddering.

"Yeah."

"But how did he get in here?"

Nanako knew Chie was looking at her. "Hey, I'm abiding by Rule #1, okay? I don't even know what Naoki-kun looked like except that he had wavy hair."

"Y-yeah, I wasn't accusing you."

"Let's go inside."

The liquor store was a wreck. It looked like it might have been looted or vandalized. Broken bottles littered the floor, and their spilled contents made the floor sticky and unpleasant to walk across.

"It reeks in here," Chie commented.

"I could use some brandy," Nanako said absently. "I'm going to investigate. You don't have to come."

"W-well, I don't want to be alone..." Chie protested.

"Just scream if a monster shows up," Nanako told her. "I'm going in the back."

The back room only contained a few big barrels meant to store large quantities of alcohol. A couple of them were smashed open. With so much broken wood splintered over the floor, Nanako had to step carefully. While she was navigating towards a work table, she heard Chie shouting from the front.

"Nanako! S-something's there!"

_Ah, finally the bear shows up_. She'd expected to see it much earlier, though she couldn't pinpoint why.

But it wasn't the bear. It was... another Chie? It stood there with its hands on its hips. Something was off about it, however—an aura of blue smoke surrounded it, and it had yellow eyes and a cruel smirk on its face.

"I'm pathetic," it said in a distortion of Chie's own voice. "I don't have any sort of power." Its unfriendly grin seemed to grow wider at the admission. "Not like Nanako."

"Uhhh... Chie?" Nanako said cautiously.

The real Chie flinched at the accusation. "Wh-wh-what?"

"Yeah, I'm powerless, aren't I?" the other Chie went on. "I don't even have power over Yukiko anymore."

"Wh-wha... Leave Yukiko out of this!" Chie shouted at it.

It ignored her and waved a hand flippantly. "I used to, you know. Yukiko used to look up to me. Oh, how I loved it! I vowed to protect her from everything—keeping her fragile and keeping her dependent upon me!"

"Th-that's not what I think of Yukiko!" Chie exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" the thing replied. "I should know... I'm you. Yukiko's my friend, because I wouldn't let her go. But now she's trying to get away. What's up with that, huh? It's because I'm pathetic. Maybe she's realized it already. That's why she hasn't been answering my calls."

Chie sniffled. "That's..."

"Yukiko doesn't care about me anymore. She cares about the inn so much more." It paused and then made a dramatic flourish. "Or maybe it's because... I'm not from Tokyo!"

"What does that even have to do with...?" Nanako interrupted. "Oh, wait..."

The thing laughed, and Chie declared, "You're not me!"

The laugh became maniacal, and the aura about it darkened and expanded until it couldn't be seen. When the darkness faded, something else was in its place.

It was a woman wearing a yellow hooded mask and matching knee-high boots perched on a tower of faceless female Yasogami High students. It carried a long red whip that reached all the way to the floor and several lengths of chains, and behind it was a cloak of long, beautiful black hair... that also seemed to be carrying knives.

"Oh, what," said Nanako. She glanced at the real Chie, and the girl was flat on the ground, apparently unconscious. She looked at her golf club and then back at the dominatrix way at the top of the huge tower.

This really wasn't going to work.

She envisioned her card and smashed it. "Izanami!"

The goddess came forward and a powerful jet of water hit the dominatrix, causing the whole tower to lean backwards, but it ultimately stayed upright.

In return, the dominatrix waved its cherry-red whip, and suddenly a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and hit Nanako. I'm dead, she thought, but although it had been painful, she hadn't even been knocked down by it.

If this was the real world, though, she would have been killed by that, no question. This place was very weird...

She didn't have time to think about it. She hefted the golf club and steeled herself, then ran towards the tower's base, but the going was slow due to the stickiness of the floor. The dominatrix didn't move, though, and when she finally made it there, Nanako closed her eyes and whacked the bottommost student as hard as she could with her weapon. It wasn't a real person, she told herself, but the sickening _thwack_ it made on contact caused her to shudder.

"Are you an idiot?" the dominatrix screeched. "Protecting that jealous bitch!" It lifted the whip and, with deadly accuracy, flung Nanako so painfully across the room that she saw stars.

Not like this, she thought, gripping the point of the whip with all her strength even though she was whimpering against the floor. "Izanami?" she called, and the blindfolded goddess answered by singing a bittersweet melody. Its tune soothed Nanako's pain, and also gave her an idea.

"Izanami!" she called again, and from above the goddess doused the entire battlefield in water.

The dominatrix treated her to an amused smile. "That didn't even tickle," it teased, tugging at the whip Nanako was still clutching. "I'm disappointed."

Nanako braced herself. The dominatrix was ready to summon another round of lightning.

"Why don't you try being the bottom for once?" Nanako shouted as the clouds gathered up and roared above. When the lightning bolt struck, she raised the whip and looked at her friend's dark side, its face twisting into an expression she would savor forever as it screamed in bitter agony from the electricity flooding through it.

The singed tower of students toppled backward, and the being dissolved into a mass of black and red smoke, which faded and left behind the yellow-eyed Chie. It lacked the smirk that it previously wore and seemed to be subdued.

After Nanako recovered her breath, she saw that the real Chie was getting up to her feet. "What happened?" the girl asked groggily.

"That happened," Nanako said, pointing with her thumb at the fake Chie. "I don't even know anymore. I think it's related to you somehow. Maybe you can give it a hug or something, I think it needs one."

It was looking pretty sad. Chie slowly approached it. "Are you... How did you know all that about me...? But... You're right. Yukiko's my friend, and maybe I'm a bit overprotective of her, and she's been really busy lately and I'm worried that she doesn't care, but... Yeah."

The other Chie nodded, and in a flash of light, it disappeared. In front of her now was a large yellow-clad warrior woman holding a double-sided naginata. "Tomoe...? My Persona...?"

The figure turned into a card that Chie took in her hand. Then she collapsed to her knees. "Ugh, Nanako... I want to go home..."

"Y-yeah, me too," Nanako said. She moved to her friend's side. "Uh, about Yukiko... I haven't even talked to her since the first day of school. I'm not trying to steal her from you or anything. Really!"

"Y-yeah, I know," Chie replied weakly. She even managed a small smile.

"But, well..." Nanako smiled back at her. "There's always a threesome option, right?"

* * *

><p>On the way back to the stage backlot, they discussed their new powers. "Tomoe Gozen was a master swordswoman and an amazing archer," said Chie. "She was kind of one of my heroes growing up, you know!" She summoned the Persona for the sixth time and looked up at it with the same look of awe that she'd had the first time. "What about you? Izanami? Show me again?"<p>

"Yeah..." said Nanako. "I'm actually a bit too tired to bring her out again." She could envision the card, but it wasn't appearing because her mind couldn't seem to focus. "I think I used it all up in fighting that... thing."

"If that thing was related to me," Chie mused, "I wonder if that's what killed Naoki-kun! Not mine, I mean, but maybe he had something come out and attack him like that! If you weren't there, what would've happened to me...?"

"You'd be strung up on a TV antenna tomorrow morning," Nanako predicted, and they both shuddered just thinking about it.

"Then, this world... Who the heck built it?" Chie asked. "I mean, I really doubt Naoki-kun built the central shopping district himself, and that Junes building, too!"

"It was towering over the liquor store," Nanako noted. "I wonder if that's how he saw Junes? Like he and his family were living in the store's shadow?"

"Oh! Could be. But then... who built it? Naoki-kun's mind?"

"Why not?" said Nanako. "I mean our Personas are from our mind! That other Chie came from your mind, I bet."

"Too bad we don't have psychology as our elective this year, huh?" Chie chuckled. "Man, this is so weird."

"Tell me about it."

But the weirdest was yet to come. Right in the center of the stage that bear was waiting for them. "You guys!" it said. "Why did you come back? You saw how dangerous it was! I barely escaped with my fur!"

Upon closer inspection, the creature did not look dangerous at all. It appeared to be someone in a costume, actually. It even had a zipper around its neck. It was very round, with a red and white body with big red buttons on the front, and cartoonish, overlarge eyes. The fur above the zipper was blue and its ears twitched occasionally.

"We had to know more about the nature of this place, Bear-san," said Nanako, "so we came back."

"Bear-san? My name's Teddie! But you can call me... Teddie-san!" It wiggled its ears in delight. "But this place isn't meant for people! You shouldn't be here."

"Are you like, the guardian of this place?" Chie asked. "Is that why you chased us yesterday?"

The bear looked embarrassed. "Oh, w-well, I thought you were the ones throwing people in here! So I was gonna getcha! But then you ran right towards the most dangerous Shadows in here, so I realized you probably weren't the bad guys..."

"Shadows? Is that what you call those monsters?" Chie asked.

"Wait, throwing people in here?" Nanako said, overwriting Chie's question with her own. "So someone else has the same power that I do?"

"You have the power to bring people to this world? Hmm..." The bear seemed to think about it. "But do you have the power to get back out?"

"Well, we have this rope," said Nanako. The escape rope was still hanging there. "I don't fancy climbing it, but it's there."

"I can make an exit for you again," Teddie said. "But... won't you lovely ladies listen to my story?"

"I dunno," said Chie. "I really kind of want to go home now."

Teddie told them how the world was once peaceful, but with someone throwing people into it, everything's been thrown out of whack. "If you can come in here on your own... Won't you try to put a stop to this for me?"

"Uhh," said Nanako.

"For me...?" the bear pleaded, its large eyes sparkling.

"Give me a sec to think about it," Nanako said. She sat cross-legged on the ground. That announcer and Naoki died. This world was definitely involved. The police... would laugh at her if she tried to tell them, unless they had some sort of secret division for paranormal phenomenon (doubtful). She could demonstrate her TV-entering power to them, but that might just turn her into a guinea pig of some sort. She imagined being holed up in a bio research lab somewhere and mentally shuddered. No, she valued her freedom far too much. It might cause trouble for her dad, too, and he had his own cases to worry about in Tokyo and couldn't become involved in this.

But finding a killer? That's what this was now, wasn't it? A murder investigation. Someone had put people into the TV so that they'd die to the monsters. She was only sixteen, but... yeah, she didn't mind matching her wits with a killer.

"I'll solve this mystery or my dad isn't a detective!" she declared, raising her fist into the air.

The bear squealed in delight. "I knew I could count on you. Here, I'll give you an easy way out!"

Teddie did a twirl, and a stack of TVs appeared.

"We'll be back soon," Nanako promised him. "We'll have lots of questions, too, so be ready!"

The exit deposited them in the electronics section at Junes, just as it had the last time. Nanako would have to ask how the bear knew this was their exit, and if he could set it to another exit. She wondered if she could be sent directly to the TV in her room. It would save her a long and tiring walk home...

"Oh, _thank god_ you're back. You've been in there for hours!"

Nanako looked up at Yosuke. The boy's face was ashen with worry. "Sorry for making you wait," she said. She didn't tell him that they didn't need the escape rope... In fact, she took the rope from him—he'd apparently untied it from his waist—and stuffed it into the TV. She could find a use for it the next time they went in.

Wait, that rope... It had been hanging in the sky, but the exit TV hadn't been in the sky, and yet the rope had still been there, and... What would've happened if she'd brought the hanging end of the rope through the exit TV with her?

She shook her head and then proceeded to inform him of their findings. She didn't tell him about their 'Persona' power, either, and Chie didn't call her out on the omission. That was because Chie was on the phone. "Yukiko, can we meet? I really need to talk to you," Nanako overheard.

"A-anyway, Yosuke," said Nanako. "We're exhausted. You look like you need some sleep, too. We'll give you the details tomorrow, all right?"

He looked like he was about to protest, but then he took in both of the girls' appearances, and then he nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you at school."

Nanako saw her friends off, and then bought a notebook at Junes and began to make a shopping list. If they were going to make a habit of entering what she now called 'the TV World,' they'd definitely need to be better-prepared.

* * *

><p>The way home led Nanako through the flood plain. There at the picnic table, she saw Chie with Yukiko. By how close they were sitting—it looked like Yukiko's head was resting on Chie's chest—it was obviously a precious moment. Nanako decided to pretend that the river on the opposite side of the road was far more interesting and walk a little more quickly.<p>

A threesome could happen later.

* * *

><p>[Next Chapter: Gauze and Lace<p>

Nanako takes a ride down to the police station. It was bound to happen!]


	5. Chapter 5 - Gauze and Lace

Nanako woke up in a place that was so blue, she almost thought she was in the ocean. When her eyes focused, she realized it was that limousine she'd dreamed of during her train ride several days ago.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," said a soft voice. Yes, the long-nosed Igor was there, sitting at the short table before her. "We meet again..."

"Yeah, I think I figured out that catastrophe thing," Nanako told him. "Murder, huh?"

Igor drummed the fingers of one hand against the other's knuckles. "Indeed... But more importantly, we must speak of your power. My assistant, Margaret, will explain..."

Nanako realized Igor wasn't alone. An elegant woman in a long blue coat and black stockings was sitting near him. She had unnatural golden eyes and wavy silver-yellow hair. A thick book was in her lap.

"You heeded the call of your subconscious," Margaret said, "and chose to follow your destiny, leading to your glorious awakening."

"Yeah, it was pretty glorious, wasn't it?" Nanako commented without a shred of humility.

There was a snicker and she couldn't tell which of the two it had come from.

Igor slid a key across the table. He informed her that she was responsible for every decision she made henceforth.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, puzzled by his words.

Igor ignored her comment and went on to tell her about the uniqueness of her particular power of Persona...

* * *

><p>[416: Saturday]

Nanako woke up feeling great. _Igor called me special!_ She had no idea why, but hearing that from the gremlin-like old man elated her.

But her good mood soon faded. She went downstairs and discovered that the dinosaurs she and Souji had colored had been removed from the fridge. She'd proudly posted them up there for Aunt Seta to see.

Had the woman taken them down? She scowled at the thought.

Her scowl became darker when she realized it was Saturday and apparently this part of the country hadn't abolished Saturday school. Back in Tokyo she only had to go on Saturday twice a month.

Well, at least it was only a half-day. And it wasn't raining, although it was foggy out. It reminded her of the TV World...

Still, seeing the sun cheered her up a bit. "I think today's going to be a great day!" she told Souji, who looked at her politely for further comments and said nothing himself. He was probably upset that it _wasn't_ raining and he couldn't use the Loveline umbrella. She chuckled to herself. She wouldn't see that thing again anytime soon. She should add that to her shopping list: buy an adult-sized umbrella.

On the way to school, Chie ran up to her. "Did you check out the Midnight Channel last night?"

"Ah, no," Nanako admitted. "I'm kind of a sound sleeper. Why, did you?"

"Y-yeah!" Chie was bouncing with excitement. "So, uh, there was a girl on there, and uh, well, I reached out to touch it out of curiosity, and my hand went through the screen!"

Nanako's eyes widened. "What, really?"

"Yeah! I have the power too, Nanako!"

"Maybe it's because you have a Persona now."

Chie nodded, but then her smile faded. "Well, if someone was on it, then they could be in danger, right? We should talk to Yosuke and check it out after school."

Nanako agreed. They walked in silence for a bit before she broke it. "Now, be honest, Chie... You only tried to touch the screen because it was a girl, didn't you?"

Chie's face flushed, and she laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nanako!"

Nanako laughed, too, and then she heard a shattering sound and time seemed to stop. The image of a tarot card appeared in her mind. It depicted the silhouette of a warrior riding a chariot drawn by two sphinxes.

_Thou art I... And I am thou..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the truth..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana..._

The card faded and time resumed, although she stumbled.

"You okay?" Chie asked.

"I just tripped over a rock," Nanako replied quickly.

"The problem with living in the country!" Chie quipped.

Nanako didn't respond. 'Social links' were something else Igor had spoken of, and apparently that's what that had been. Being friends with Chie would make her stronger, huh? Well, there was no problem with that. She'd always intended to be friends with her, if only to improve her kicking skills...!

* * *

><p>The day ended up being a total bust. They'd talked with Teddie through the TV—apparently as long as Nanako opened the 'door,' sound could travel through, and thus they could talk with the bear without actually entering his world—and no one had been thrown in there despite someone having shown up on the Midnight Channel. Maybe that hypothesis had been incorrect, or they were still missing something.<p>

On the bright side, Nanako had finished all her homework for the week... which meant her Sunday would be free.

She sighed while she put said homework in the correct notebook in her school bag. There was just too much to think about. She didn't know what to look at first. But one thing was certain: this was already turning out to be the best school year ever—well, despite having to go every Saturday.

She hadn't even been in town a week and she was in this deep. Her dad would be worried if he knew and her mom would be... uh...

Well, Chisato Dojima was a unique woman. Nanako was old enough to recognize that now. A world-traveled pianist with an appreciation for art, she had raised Nanako to be open-minded in a rather structured and close-minded society and had taught her to appreciate the beauty in everything.

When Nanako was little, her mom had told her a story about mirrors and the importance of seeing what's actually there instead of what one wants to see.

So, TV World, Shadows, Personas, Velvet Rooms, and Social Links... Sure, they were weird, but Nanako had no doubt that it was real, that it wasn't just a product of her admittedly overactive imagination. She could feel Izanami in the back of her mind even now in the real world. It wasn't really the goddess of creation and death, but one aspect of herself, or so Igor had said.

_The world I knew isn't the world I know now,_ she thought, and she had a feeling that if her mom was there, she would have replied, "I told you so."

Still, Nanako didn't want her mother to worry, so she just sent an opaque email telling her about her week. She informed her dad of the murder case, knowing he'd appreciate that. He probably already knew Naoki Konishi had been a student the same school she was going to, if the news reached outside of Inaba. Probably—the news was already calling it a serial murder, even though 'serial' meant three or more. Technically speaking, as it was right now, it was just a murderer who'd struck twice. When she'd told Yosuke that, he hadn't been amused by her semantic knowledge.

"Who cares if the terminology is wrong?" he'd declared. "It doesn't change that fact that two people are dead! And Saki-senpai is suffering..."

"Soon enough, it might be three, anyway," she'd quietly agreed.

Now, Nanako was supposed to stay up and watch the Midnight Channel. The morning fog had given way to a rainy evening. But Nanako didn't really care to stay up; she was still tired from yesterday, and her little cousin had pointed out that she hadn't taken the medicine he'd given her, and so she was kind of obligated to take it right then and there even though it was the kind that made you drowsy...

So, she, uh, went to sleep instead.

* * *

><p>It took several rings for the cell phone to reach through her medicine-induced haze of sleep and awaken her. Her eyes were too blurry to make out the time or even the name of who was calling when she flipped open the phone. She meant to press 'End Call' and missed the button, answering it instead.<p>

"Nanako DID YOU WATCH THE MIDNIGHT CHANNEL?!"

"What the hell, Chie," Nanako muttered to herself. Giving the girl her number this afternoon had obviously been a mistake.

"IT WAS YUKIKO AND SHE WAS—"

Chie raced on like an auctioneer with a megaphone, but Nanako put the cell phone down and rubbed her eyes, which honestly only made them blurrier but at least served to make her feel slightly more awake. When she picked it back up, Chie was panting heavily into the phone, apparently out of breath or just waiting for Nanako to respond.

"Chie, honey, run that by me again?" Nanako said. "Quieter and slower this time, please."

"Did you see the Midnight Channel?" Chie asked between gasps.

"Tell me what you saw again and let's compare notes, hmm?"

Apparently Chie had seen Yukiko wearing a fancy dress with lacy underwear—no, she hadn't _seen_ the underwear, but Yukiko had said she was wearing that—she'd _said_ that?—yes, she'd said that. And she'd also said she was looking for a 'hot stud' and had entered a castle behind her. Then the show had ended.

"What the hell was that, Nanako? It wasn't like anything we'd seen before."

"I assume you tried calling her, right?"

"It says she's not in a service area!"

"Has that ever happened before?"

"No!"

"Then she's probably in the TV World," Nanako mused. "Tomorrow, let's meet up at Junes. Umm, what time, umm..." Loveline was tomorrow morning! She couldn't miss it! But... if Yukiko was in the TV World, she was in danger... "Afternoon, maybe... one-thirty?"

"Y-yeah, all right. Umm... Thanks, Nanako. For being so calm... I was freaking out over here!"

"Not a problem," Nanako said, though she was surprised that Chie hadn't woken up her family. "Try to get some rest. We might need it."

_Man, I wished I'd stayed awake now..._ Nanako thought as she pulled the covers up over her body. Yukiko's show had sounded very... interesting...

* * *

><p>[417: Sunday]

Nanako woke up later than she'd planned and blamed it on the cold medicine. It was a good thing she'd set their meeting later in the day. Due to how groggy she was, it took a while for her to get dressed. Since it wasn't a school day, she put on casual clothes: a simple white blouse, a pink cardigan jacket, and a matching pink skirt.

Downstairs, she found her little cousin at the tea table in the living room, staring out through the sliding glass doors and apparently daydreaming.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, taking the seat across from him.

Souji didn't turn his head. "It's sunny out..."

"Do you want to go out and play?" she suggested. They could play kickball, or maybe catch. Despite her sleeping in, there was time for a quick game before the show started.

"...I should do the laundry," he whispered as if he hadn't heard her.

_He does the laundry, too._ Nanako drummed her fingers against the table in thought. _Of course._

She stood up, and with the rustle of her clothes, the boy finally turned to look at her. "Why don't we get a load started, then?" she said briskly.

Souji obediently rose from his spot, and she helped him out with the laundry. While they were separating the light and dark wash, she asked where his mother was and discovered that she was often out on weekends, too.

She also learned that the boy went to daycare on Saturdays. Nanako had just assumed he'd been at cram school yesterday. _Does your mom take you to the daycare or do you walk?_ she wondered. There was something radically wrong with the image of Souji walking to daycare all on his own.

After the load was started, Nanako set Souji in front of the tea table and told him she'd be right back. She went up to her room, opened up the bag of stuff she'd bought from Junes, and took out a snack bag. She brought it downstairs, opened it up, and set it on the table between them.

"I always have to have gummies when I watch Loveline. It's tradition," she declared.

He stared at her while she turned the TV on and flipped it to the right channel. She ate a few gummies from the bag and then forced one of them into his hand.

_Just eat it already, damn,_ she thought when he stared at it. _It's just a gummy, you don't have to be so surprised._

"Magical Detective... Loveline!" she sang along with the theme song. While the opening theme played, she wondered briefly what would happen if she touched a turned-on TV... She could test it later, though—the show was starting!

She watched the show, yes—it was her favorite, after all—but out of the corner of her eye she also watched little Souji. He was engrossed by the TV. And he really was a normal child, at least in that moment. He smiled at the jokes and he held his breath unconsciously during the suspenseful scenes.

And during a commercial she heard the crinkle of plastic when he pulled out another gummy from the bag all on his own. She mentally cheered.

"Hey, Souji-kun... I missed the last episode of Featherman, can you tell me what happened last week?" she asked during the break between shows. Featherman was coming up next. She'd missed it because she had been packing some last-minute items.

He looked down at the table, and she worried for a moment that maybe he'd missed it last week, too, but then he looked up at her. "Red Hawk and Yellow Owl had their minds switched. But Blue Swan fixed it."

"That sounds like fun!" She smiled at him in thanks. "I'm sorry I missed it. Well, at least I'll see this week's!"

She only hummed the theme because she didn't know all the lyrics. She didn't watch Featherman even half as often as Loveline, but at least she knew the tune. She listened, but Souji didn't seem to be humming or singing it. Yes, he was sort of eyeing her. Maybe he was too embarrassed by her presence to sing it himself.

Well, she'd just have to learn the lyrics on her own for next week and embarrass herself more than him. She grinned to herself at the plan and then the show started.

This episode involved one of the rangers getting ill while the bad guys created a giant bird monster to attack the others. The sick one got better just in time to save his friends. "I'm going to be like that!" Nanako claimed. "I'll save everyone."

Although watching TV with her cousin was doing nothing to save Yukiko, that was true...

Souji looked at her. "You aren't sick anymore..." he conceded.

"That's right," she said. "Hey, this was fun, wasn't it? Watching TV together?"

Souji blinked at the now-empty package of gummies, and she wondered if she was wrong to put him on the spotlight with such a direct question.

He didn't look up when he said his very quiet, "Y-yeah..."

A card suddenly appeared in her mind's eye: a glowing lantern with an eyeball under it.

_Thou art I... And I am thou..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the truth..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Hermit Arcana..._

"W-we'll have to do it again next week," she told him, disconcerted by the voice in her head.

Apparently tired of talking, he stood up. "Have to finish the laundry..."

"Hey, I'll help you!"

"It's okay..." he said, but she helped him anyway. While hanging the laundry out to dry, she thought about the 'Social Link' she'd just established. Cards in her head, representing her friends (and now family)? It was a bit weird, though convenient.

And Souji was the hermit? Wasn't that supposed to be reserved for old men at the end of their journey? It was true Souji had gray hair already, but she knew his father had been a natural gray, too, so it ran in his family, as strange as that was...

She wondered if Souji had been different before his father's sudden death, but she didn't have much time to ponder it because she had to meet with Chie and Yosuke at Junes.

* * *

><p>Nanako got there early, apparently, because neither of her classmates was in sight. She took a seat at the one of the round plastic-topped tables and waited. She checked her phone and there was another message from dad telling her to be careful. <em>Yeah, Dad, I know...<em>

"Hey there, little lady..." said a familiar voice. She looked up to see Yosuke walking towards her. Since it was Sunday, he was also in his casual wear: an open white jacket with fur lining, and brown pants and boots. His undershirt was an orange v-neck and he still sported his signature headphones. "Can I interest you in any of these?"

He took out a sword and a knife and waved them around.

"Uhh," said Nanako since she had not been expecting that.

"I found them in the closet at home!" he explained. "Chie said you'd found monsters in there, so... which one's more your style?"

"Gimme the knife, fast," Nanako hissed, well-aware of the fact that the lady behind Yosuke was beginning to panic. Yosuke handed it to her and she stuffed it inside her own jacket so that it was out of sight. "Now, Yosuke, you might wanna, umm, put that down."

"I bet I could fight with this," Yosuke mused, looking at the katana. He then took some practice swings and Nanako tried not to facepalm as a police officer suddenly came running up to them.

"M-miss, are you all right? SIR, drop your weapon! Hands where I can see them!"

Responding only to the officer's last request, Yosuke held up both of his hands, including the one with the katana, so it looked like he was about to attack with it.

The officer proceeded to arrest him, although Nanako tried to explain that he'd meant no harm.

_Shit,_ she thought as she watched Yosuke get taken into a police car. He might not be the smartest member of the team, but he didn't deserve that. She didn't have high hopes that he'd be able to explain himself. The police were understandably on edge after the second murder, so they weren't likely to go lightly on him... but what could she do?

While walking around Junes's front entrance area, she almost literally ran into the answer. "Hey, watch where you're going, miss, haha..."

She blinked up at the red tie and then into the face of a familiar policeman. "Adachi-san! Just the man I needed!"

"H-huh? Oh, you're Seta-san's niece... Nanako-kun, was it? Uhh," Adachi drawled. "What can I do for you?"

She eyed him shrewdly, calculating how best to formulate the request. She didn't know anything about the guy except that he used to be her uncle's partner on the force. That fact really couldn't be used as leverage... She decided just coming clean might be best. "My friend is kind of an idiot and just got arrested for waving around a fake sword. I kind of need him... not arrested. Could you maybe see your way to fixing this?"

Adachi coughed and began to laugh. He covered his mouth in amusement. "Ahh... And why would I do that?"

Damn, the question she'd hoped he wouldn't ask. "Because..." Her eyes flickered to the produce he'd been looking at. "I'll buy you cabbages."

The amusement died on his face, replaced by curious puzzlement. "Oh...? I thought for sure you'd ask me to do it as a favor to your aunt." He seemed impressed by that. "But... cabbages?"

"Beautiful, fresh, green cabbages," Nanako said, having no idea what the hell she was even on about. She thought of running her fingers over the cabbages on display, but she had more pride than that.

"You shouldn't try to bribe an officer of the law," he muttered, but she could tell she was winning him over.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "There's also red cabbages on the other end of the display!" She ran towards it.

"No, no, I like the green ones!" he called after her. She turned and he scratched the back of his head. "A-all right, then... I'll help, but I'm holding this against you!"

"Thanks, Adachi-san!"

"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I haven't done anything. Come along, we'll see what I can do."

_Come along!?_ She followed him out of Junes and to the parking lot, where he unlocked a black and white car with "Inaba PD" on the side. He invited her to sit in the passenger seat. As she sat down, the knife in her jacket dug into her thigh and made her wince until she shifted it. The action seemed to draw Adachi's attention, but to her surprise, he was actually checking to make sure that she had her seatbelt on, immediately earning him points in her mental tally.

"I heard your father is a detective, too," he remarked while turning the ignition. "He ever give you a ride?" He grinned at her. He had a very goofy, disarming grin that she wasn't quite sure what to make of.

"Y-yeah, actually," she replied, "but well, it's been a while, and it's always fun."

"The Tokyo PD, huh?" he went on. "Bet he's got fancier gadgets than I'm stuck with." Adachi fiddled around with the police radio and the sudden static it emitted made both of them wince. "Eh, sorry about that. What division is he with?"

"Homicide, actually," she said. "Is that... what you're in, too?"

Adachi leaned back in the driver's seat and looked in the rearview mirror while he backed the car out of the lot. "I wasn't until this week!" He chuckled without humor.

She blinked. "The murders...?"

"Out here in the sticks," he further explained, "it's not so much divisions, just whatever the top brass decides you're gonna do. Why did I have to be one of the unlucky ones assigned to this case?" He sighed and looked very uncomfortable. Yeah, the homicide division wasn't for everyone. Nanako remembered several times when her dad had come home drunk because he'd seen something terrible on the job...

She also recalled how Adachi had been sick at the crime scene. No wonder the guy had been screwing around at Junes instead of investigating.

An uncomfortable silence elapsed, interrupted by the police radio. Adachi listened intently until the dispatch was over. "Haha, maybe someone has even less luck than me. That sap just got assigned to code 17. You know what that is? Come on, guess!"

It had to be something inane, so... "Uhh... Helping an old person cross the road?" she guessed.

"Finding a lost pet." He laughed. "Thank god I'm high enough on the ladder not to deal with that shit anymore. Uh, forgive my language."

"Not a problem!" Nanako replied cheerfully. "My dad's definitely said worse."

"Oh yeah? Like what...?" he asked teasingly.

They made some more small talk, and before Nanako knew it, they were already there. This town was small, wasn't it? The ride hadn't even lasted five minutes.

The Inaba police department wasn't a large building—it was less than half the size of the one her dad worked at—but some care had been put into its outer appearance; its paint job looked recent, and a landscaping company's placard had been placed in front of the well-trimmed bushes lining the entrance. The water from a small fountain babbled away between the largest bushes. Its cherub motif seemed out of place for a police department.

Adachi stopped before the sliding glass doors and sighed heavily. "I hate going into the office. Well, let's get this over with..."

The front office was teeming with activity and the sound of several different ongoing conversations filled the air. At a glance, Nanako saw a couple of civilians speaking with a uniformed woman right by the front entrance, several people gathered around a coffee-maker near a hallway, and farther in the back people gossiping while eating lunch at their desks.

As soon as the people noticed Adachi, however, all conversation ceased until it was so quiet that she could hear a pin drop.

Adachi's dress shoes echoed in the room as he walked across the tiled floor to the front desk. Nanako noticed how his hand clenched into a fist. He was well aware that all eyes were watching him.

"Ah, Adachi-san, sir," the receptionist said a tad too brightly. "How may I help you?"

Adachi slouched against the reception desk and bent one of his legs in a relaxed manner. "Ehh. Some kid was armed at Junes. I imagine he's being questioned..."

The receptionist nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, that's in I.R. 3."

"Right."

Adachi headed down a hallway and waved for Nanako to follow him. She could hear whispers behind her as conversation started up again in the front office.

As if hearing her unspoken question, Adachi commented, "It's been almost half a year and they still treat me like something to be pitied."

Nanako knew without asking that he meant his partner's—her uncle's—death.

He stopped before a door. "Stay here," he told her.

He didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and interrupted the interrogation. He left the door open, and Nanako peered in through the small window that the gap provided. All she could see was an officer at a desk.

"You," Adachi said, pointing at the officer, then jerking his thumb towards the door. "Out. I'm taking over from here."

The officer tried to protest, but Adachi apparently stared him down, and he left the room, scowling at Nanako as he passed her in the hall.

"All right, kid," Adachi said. He stood behind the desk and leaned over it, palms down on the tabletop. "We could do this the easy way... or the hard way."

"I'm not the killer!" Yosuke's voice had an 'I'm about to cry' quality to it.

"Damn right," Adachi agreed. "Get the hell out of here, kid. And buy that girl outside some ice cream or something, because she just saved your ass."

Taking that as her cue, Nanako popped her head into the room and waved at Yosuke.

"Wh-wha... Nanako-san!" Yosuke squeaked in surprise and relief.

Adachi eyed her impassively, then glanced over the paperwork on the desk and shook his head at its contents. "I'll take care of this. Get the hell out of here, both of you."

"Thank you, Adachi-san!" Nanako sang.

He didn't answer, but the look on his face said, 'You owe me.'

"N-Nanako-san..." Yosuke sniffled while they were out in the hallway. He rubbed his watering eyes. He looked even more awful than he'd been during the week, if it was even possible. "They thought I was the killer! C-can you believe that?"

He was trying hard to be cheerful. Nanako patted him on the shoulder. "Well, now we know about weapon safety."

"Th-thank you so much for bailing me out there... They were trying to call my parents and, ugh..." He wiped his eyes and sniffled again. "I don't even want to think about it."

"Yosuke. You're on my team," she said. "Of course I wouldn't abandon you."

He looked like he really appreciated that.

In fact...

_Oh,_ thought Nanako, as time stopped and yet another social link was earned. Magician, huh? After this incident, she kind of doubted Yosuke had any wisdom to depart, but she had a feeling his heart was in the right place.

"Well," she said, "Moving on... We're extremely late to our meeting with Chie." Yeah, Nanako checked her phone and there were a few texts from her friend.

_Cum 2 daidaras by bookstore csd_

_Were r u?_

_U ok?_

_Coming,_ Nanako sent back.

"Apparently we're going to... Daidara's?" she informed him. "I guess it's at the shopping district."

"Oh, yeah," said Yosuke. "That's the blacksmith shop. I always wondered why we had a blacksmith. Feels old-timely, right? Like when wagons were used instead of cars."

"All right. If you know where it is, why don't you lead the way?"

* * *

><p>Daidara's Metalworks was unlike anything she expected to see... anywhere, really. It was, in essence, a blacksmith's shop. There was even a forge in the corner, and by the glow it emitted, it was on and ready to be used, too. The wooden shelves were covered in weapons that looked like they belonged in medieval Europe: axes, pikes, swords, knives... Even some old bucket helmets were on display.<p>

And Chie was there, looking annoyed at being forced to wait for so long. "There you are! Look, Nanako, we can buy weapons and armor here. If we have to save Yukiko, we should go in prepared, right? I'll leave it up to you to decide what to get."

"Y-yeah," said Yosuke. "I knew a golf club wouldn't really cut it, so..."

Chie handed Nanako some money, and Nanako looked over the assorted weapons on display. Nothing really spoke to her... She noticed the blacksmith watching them from next to his forge. He looked intimidating—his face was scarred and he had a bandana over his forehead, presumably to keep sweat out of his eyes. Well, if they were going to make use of this place, she thought she might as well get acquainted with the owner. "Daidara-san? Maybe you could give us some advice?"

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, they stood before the large TV in the Junes electronics department. Chie kept itching her sides; the padded vest she wore under her lime green jacket seemed to irritate her skin. Nanako wasn't fond of it, either, but she imagined it was better than not having the vest.<p>

On the other hand, Chie was rather happy with her steel-toed boots. Nanako caught her lifting up her feet and looking at them admiringly on more than one occasion.

With Daidara's help, Nanako had picked out a naginata for herself. She'd carried it with her into Junes, hoping the wooden sheath over the blade would conceal the weapon's nature. It seemed to work so far, and once it was in the TV World, she figured she'd never have to take it out into the real world again. She'd already tossed a plastic crate into the TV and planned to use it for storage there.

And Yosuke... had another rope. Well, Nanako had given him back the knife he'd given her earlier in the day, but Yosuke's job was, once again, to keep their backup exit open. He was less than thrilled with the idea.

"Why can't I come with?" he complained.

"I'm still upset with you for earlier," she told him, and he lowered his gaze, chastised. "And we can't guarantee that Teddie will be there to let us out."

"Y-yeah, well," he said, "that's all well and good, but what if someone comes here and sees me feeding a rope into the TV screen? It almost happened last time..."

"I'm sure you'll come up with an excuse," she said. "Come on, Chie! We have a Yukiko to save!"

* * *

><p>[Next Chapter: Royal Pains<p>

The first rescue mission begins!]


	6. Chapter 6 - Royal Pains

Landing upright onto the TV backlot was getting easier. Bend the knees just so...

When Nanako straightened, the key Igor had given her glowed through her jacket's pocket and resonated with a semi-transparent glowing blue door in the corner of the backlot. She took the key out of her pocket and stepped through the door.

"All right, Igor, what else do you have to tell me?" she said upon opening her eyes. She'd had a hunch it'd be the Velvet Room, and sure enough, it was. "And who's that?"

To Igor's right was a girl who looked to be about her own age. She wore a white blouse, a black tie, striped stockings, and a plaid pleated skirt. Her eyes were a vibrant green, complementing, in a way, Margaret's yellow. She was nicely accessorized with a blue bag and matching cap, but she wore a necklace that unfortunately looked like a dog collar.

"Just leave me alone!" the girl said, clutching the strap to her bag and turning her head away with a troubled look. It reminded Nanako of Souji when she'd made him wear a seatbelt.

"Marie." Margaret even sounded like she was scolding a dog.

"This's got nothing to do with me," the girl claimed.

"Your name's Marie? I'm Nanako." Nanako held out her hand. "I can tell we're going to be friends already."

Marie scowled at her hand and didn't take it. "What's with you...?"

Nanako stuck her tongue out at her.

"Marie will like it if you show her around your world when you have the time," Margaret said, slowly and deliberately. "Won't you...? Marie."

Marie's fist curled around the strap to her bag. She looked like she might be about to throw a temper tantrum.

"Well, I can't right now," Nanako said. "TV World." She spread her hands in a shrug.

"TV... World...?" Marie repeated. She shook her head. "Never heard of it."

"Ahem," said Igor. "As you are our very special guest," – Nanako glowed at his words, Marie all but forgotten – "it behooves me to inform you of the services available here..."

* * *

><p>Nanako blinked back into reality. Or rather, the TV World. The yellow fog almost looked green after saturating her eyes on all that velvety blue.<p>

Well. That had been interesting. Now back to business.

She dumped the backpack full of supplies she'd brought in from Junes onto the floor of the TV backlot and began to sort through it. Stuff she expected to need—a pen and paper, a small water bottle, a roll of toilet paper (hey, she wasn't about to pull a Yosuke, but just in case!)—she put back into the backpack to bring with her. Everything else she placed in the plastic crate for future consideration. Thankfully the crate had survived its fall into the TV World. With plastic you never really knew how strong it would be.

While she was doing that, Chie conversed with Teddie; focused on her own task, Nanako hardly listened until she was suddenly addressed.

"Sensei! You'll need these, too!"

Teddie waddled over and handed her a pair of glasses. They were black-framed and had ribbon decorations on the edges, along with some crystal studs embedded into the frame.

They looked pretty rad.

Nanako put them on and the weird yellow fog was suddenly absent. She lifted them up and the fog was back. Down again and it was gone again. "Wow. Scientifically speaking, this makes no sense."

"Nothing much makes sense here," Chie pointed out. She was now wearing her own set of yellow-framed glasses.

"Yeah, I just felt the need to point it out." Nanako looked at the bear. "Thanks, Teddie. These are _perfect._"

"Uh, uh, actually, Sensei..." he began.

"Just call me... Boss," she told him with a shark-like grin.

"B-boss?" he repeated. "Okay... Boss, those glasses were a joke! I have another pair meant for you..."

"They do look pretty gaudy," Chie admitted. "But at the same time, they kind of say 'you.'"

Nanako flipped her hair and smiled at her in what she was sure was a dazzling way. "I said they were perfect, Teddie. I'll stick with them, thankyouverymuch." She stood up and hefted the backpack over one shoulder. "All right. You two figured out where Yukiko is...?"

Before following Teddie, Nanako tied some string to the plastic crate. "We won't get lost if we feed this out behind us," she explained, carrying the spool with her. Man, what was that Greek myth she was stealing, no, borrowing, ideas from, anyway...? It was starting to bother her.

Teddie led them on a long, long trek through the fog. Eventually they reached the courtyard of a massive medieval-style castle. The tiny windows high on the walls glowed red, making it look, well, _hellish._ She imagined satanic demons torturing people inside. Teddie said that Yukiko's mind had created the place. Nanako looked at a statue of a rearing horse and noted that it was definitely a stallion and not a mare.

"It's huge..." Chie said, and for a moment Nanako's mind was in the gutter, thinking of the horse statue, but her friend was looking up at the castle. Yeah, it might have been even larger than the Junes they'd encountered in the replica shopping district. "But it's definitely the one I saw Yukiko go into on the Midnight Channel!"

"What's with the sky?" Nanako wondered. Red and black lines trawled across it like a spiraling vortex. It did nothing to change her opinion of it being Hell's Castle.

"The sky is like that everywhere here!" said Teddie. "What's it like in your world...?"

Everywhere? Hell's TV World, then.

"You're sure Yukiko is in there?" Nanako asked. Teddie assured her that his sniffer was never wrong.

_You could stand me up at the gates of hell..._ she thought. She shook her head to clear it and hefted up her naginata. "Let's do this!"

* * *

><p>The inside of the castle was as expansive as the outside indicated. The floors were tiled like a chess board and covered with an expensive-looking red carpet lined with gold trimming. Tall glass windows were set in the walls, but there wasn't anything visible outside of them. Upon closer inspection, the red carpet had a leopard print pattern. <em>Rawr.<em>

They encountered their first hostile Shadow in the very first hallway they ran down. It floated in the air and looked like an artist's rendition of a dolphin made of paper mache. Nanako wished she could take a picture to show her mom, but cell phones didn't work in the TV World. Its body was segmented and it wore an adorable pink mask that Nanako wanted for herself.

The fish gave them some trouble mainly because they were unused to fighting, and the enemy was surprisingly agile in the air. Nanako tried to swing up her naginata, and her target just floated out of her way. On the bright side, its dodge brought it right next to Chie, whose Persona shredded the enemy to pieces with her double-sided naginata as if it really was made of paper mache.

"Guess I'm no match for Tomoe," Nanako observed, only a mite jealous.

Chie grinned. "That was fun!"

Feeling pumped now, they strode down the hall, on the lookout for both Shadows and a staircase. Teddie had told him the castle had several floors, and Yukiko was likely at the top. The layout was a maze and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the placement of the intersecting hallways. They had a long trek ahead of them, so Nanako set a power-walking pace so they they wouldn't get winded too soon.

She opened a door along the hall and was almost ambushed by a trio of familiar foes behind it: the zebra-striped ball-tongues they'd encountered in the replica central shopping district. Nanako was about to summon Izanami to blast them away with water, but the one she had been aiming at was suddenly brought down by a block of ice. "What," she said.

Chie laughed sheepishly. "Tomoe learned a new skill! I guess I can summon ice!"

"Well, cool," Nanako said while she skewered the next ball-tongue with her naginata. 'Hablerie,' Teddie informed them of its proper name.

Yes, that was interesting—Teddie was apparently a telepath. He was walking a fair distance behind them—Nanako had put him on navigation-string-lying duty since she couldn't fight while carrying the spool—and he was speaking to them in their minds. He had some insight into the various types of Shadows, but in all honesty his help wasn't all that helpful. Still, he was trying, and he kept track of what worked and what didn't so that Nanako didn't have to.

After this battle, Nanako earned her first new Persona. It came into her mind and she wasn't sure how it got there. Igor had warned her this could happen after defeating Shadows.

_You have welcomed Pixie into your heart._

She concentrated and summoned it. It was, indeed, the textbook definition of a pixie. It was a tiny woman in a blue dress with fairy wings, and she only seemed to be able to heal, which was fine because Chie had been licked by the last hablerie while Nanako was figuring out how she could manage more than one Persona.

Upon seeing the new Persona, Chie asked her what it was and Nanako just shrugged and said, "Pixie."

Soon after she earned another Persona. It was a water nymph of some sort: a blue-skinned female with a very short skirt. Like Pixie, she was only able to heal.

Nanako was somewhat frustrated. _Where are my badass other selves?_ she wondered. She'd never been the cleric in any MMORPG she'd played. _Healing is for chumps._

She showed the Apsaras to Chie, anyway, who told her it was pretty.

The very next Persona worried her. It was called Angel, and it was a woman with white wings and... uh, her neck had a collar with a long chain attached, and instead of clothes it seemed to have duct tape covering only the naughty bits.

At least it had an attack skill! The next Shadow was a disembodied hand that stood on the tips of its fingers and had a small head where the wrist would be. Nanako blew it away with a gust of wind coming apparently from Angel's wings.

"Uh, Nanako," said Chie when she saw that one. "What exactly is going on with you...?"

Nanako informed her that she was special and could wield many different Personas.

"Y-yeah, that one was rather special," Chie admitted slowly. "I might not be able to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, I don't get it either!" Nanako grumbled. "Why are all my Personas scantily-clad girls?" She tilted her head and paused, blushing faintly. "Eh, I kind of answered my own question, didn't I?"

Chie didn't comment, but she was definitely hiding a smile behind her hand.

_I'm going to have some Words with Igor later,_ Nanako thought. But she was aware she'd probably forgive him if he said she was special again...

* * *

><p>A few floors later, they found a very large door, and Teddie told them he sensed someone behind it. They waited for him to catch up to them before opening it.<p>

In the center of the room was a woman wearing a pretty pink princess dress with a rose right in the middle of her cleavage. It was Yukiko... except it wasn't. The yellow eyes were a dead giveaway. _But that tiara is really cute,_ Nanako thought. _And damn, even her dark side has nice hair!_

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted, apparently so desperate to see her friend that she didn't catch the signs.

The fake Yukiko laughed evilly. Nanako approved of the laugh. It was a pretty good one, especially with the added distortion that being a Shadow provided. It made Nanako vow to become Yukiko's friend if they succeeded in getting her out of this mess.

Yukiko's Shadow carried a microphone and announced its desire to find a Prince Charming. It even formed an illusionary cartoonish sign over her head, like it was all a game show or something. With garish overacting, it declared, "Ready or not, here I come!" and ran into the door behind her. It was out of sight in seconds.

"What is going on? Yukiko!" Chie shouted after her. She ran forward, but stopped after a few steps, scratching her head. "That wasn't her."

"I know," said Nanako. "It was her suppressed self being let free. Or whatever." She... hadn't quite been paying attention to Teddie's explanations of the TV World. She figured imagination had a lot to do with everything.

"The real Yukiko wants to show us something," Teddie added. "I can feel it."

"Yeah, her lacy underwear," Nanako joked. "Heh heh." Chie shot her a very dark look, which she ignored.

"Lazy... under-bear?" Teddie seemed confused by his own bear pun. Nanako led them forward before she had to explain what she'd meant.

* * *

><p>They ran into a new type of Shadows: ravens carrying lanterns. To Nanako's surprise, Angel's wind attack had absolutely no effect. It should have knocked them out of the air, or ruffled their feathers at the very least! She complained to Teddie who just told her that's how this world always was. Basically, physics had taken a vacation.<p>

She supposed she should get used to it. Izanami could summon water out of nowhere, after all, and Tomoe big chunks of ice. Yeah, this wasn't the real world at all.

As they continued through the castle, they heard Yukiko's voice intermingled with her Shadow's.

"She said... red looks good on me..."

"My prince... I'm waiting..."

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn..."

"Are you... my princes? I'm locked up here... Please save me! Hehehe..."

"Your room is right this way..."

Chie growled every time she heard either voice, but said nothing.

After a fight with a bunch of giant beetles that were on fire, Nanako earned another new Persona: a floating brain with eyes and tentacles. She wondered if it was male or female. She wanted some masculine Personas, dammit! Besides, getting a tentacle- based one right after the bondage angel was...

Well, at least the Omoikane could summon lightning. It made Nanako feel pretty badass to blast the stupid ravens right out of the air. "Fried chicken!" she shouted after one such attack, enjoying the birds' dying squawks. If only. The Shadows always seemed to dissipate right after they were defeated. Sometimes they left behind strange materials, which she put in her backpack at Chie's urging. Daidara-san was apparently always looking for new things to work with, so why not bring him some Shadow bits?

They stopped for a break since Nanako was obviously getting hungry. In fact, she was starving. The trip with Adachi to the police station had forced her to skip lunch. She'd planned to have something at Junes, but after all that hullabaloo, they were pressed for time, and Chie, lucky for her, had already eaten. She felt bad for Yosuke, stuck back at the electronics department. She couldn't share her granola bars with him.

"You want one?" Nanako offered.

"Nah," said Chie. "I've got this!" She tossed a packet of something to Nanako, who caught it and stared at the label. It said 'MEAT' in all caps and next to that was a stylized drawing of a chunk of meat on a bone.

"Meat... gum? Sounds... umm..." Nanako couldn't think of a nice way to say absolutely disgusting.

"Better than beef jerky!" Chie said cheerfully. "Well, maybe not..."

"_Bear_ jerky?" Teddie said, catching up to them. "Oh, wait..."

"Yeah, don't give me any ideas!" Nanako said. She ferociously tore a large chunk out of the granola bar, purposely showing off her canine teeth. Teddie backed away a few steps and she laughed.

* * *

><p>What felt like hours later, they finally made it to the top of the castle, or so Teddie said. Nanako was exhausted, and so was Chie. The meat gum hadn't been that rejuvenating, apparently. Neither had the granola bar, to be honest...<p>

Noting their exhaustion, Teddie suggested they stop for the day. "This world is tiring to humans, isn't it? She should be safe for a few more days. You can come back another time and finish this then. This is bear-ly your first time fighting so much, after all!"

Nanako caught Chie's gaze, and they looked at the massive door in front of them together. "We're already here. I mean, I'm tired, but I'm not tired enough not to finish this. Chie?" She couldn't imagine leaving when she knew Yukiko was so close to them. That would be like... giving up. _I won't back down._

"Y-yeah. I think we should finish this, too."

"Besides, tomorrow's school," Nanako said. "We'll be just as tired after school as we are now."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. I don't think school is as tiring as fighting these Shadows," Chie said.

"Are you sure we're in the same class? I'd rather fight demons than learn trigonometry any day!"

Chie laughed with her, somewhat weakly, and then Nanako pushed open the door.

The room was a spacious chamber, and the red carpet led to a raised dais that contained a golden throne. Behind the throne was a red and gold banner depicting a heart with wings.

A human figure stood by the throne, facing away from them. "Yukiko!" Chie shouted as she ran towards her.

It was the real Yukiko—Nanako knew because she was wearing a pink kimono as opposed to the Shadow's frilly princess dress. Yukiko didn't seem to hear them.

"W-wait," Nanako said, sensing a trap. The Shadow was nowhere in sight.

"Chie..." Yukiko murmured. Nanako grabbed Chie's wrist to stop her from running up to her friend. Chie almost broke away from her grip.

Yukiko turned her head up, and a pink-clad figure with beautiful, flower-like fans appeared before her. "Konohana Sakuya," she murmured. Yukiko fell to her knees, and this time Nanako didn't stop Chie from supporting her.

Nanako turned her back on the tearful reunion and mulled it over. Yukiko had accepted her Shadow... She must have a strong heart.

"So who threw you in here?" Teddie asked, ruining the moment. Nanako glared at him.

"My memory is a blur," Yukiko said quietly. She was leaning heavily against Chie. "I think I heard my name, but I don't know whose voice it was... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Nanako told her. "What matters right now is that you're safe. We should get you home. You must be exhausted."

"I am, yes," Yukiko whispered. "This fog hurts my eyes."

"W-well, I haven't had time to make glasses for you, but these were meant for Boss!" Teddie said. "You can use them instead." He handed her a pair of pink-framed glasses. By pure coincidence, they matched her kimono rather well.

Yukiko put them on and her eyes widened at how clear her sight was. "Oh, thank you... But who are you...?"

"I'm Teddie! I live in this world!"

"And now you have a castle to live in, I guess," said Nanako. "Yukiko, are you aware that you made this place with your mind?" _Hell's Castle. You made it. It's all yours._

"I did...?" Yukiko frowned. "I really can't remember much... I'm sorry."

"I guess you didn't really need a prince after all," Chie said. "Nanako had me all ready for a fight, but you went and accepted your Shadow."

"I did," Yukiko said. She looked up into her friend's face. "It was all because of you, Chie. When you told me how important I was to you the other day, I... I understood." She was blushing now, but there was a smile on her face as well.

"That's awesome," Nanako said. "It really is."

* * *

><p>They spoke with Yukiko, explaining more about their power of Persona and the TV World, when suddenly they were interrupted.<p>

"Hey... Hey! Nanako-san! Chie! Are you there?"

"What, _Yosuke?_" Chie exclaimed.

Yosuke was holding Nanako's navigation string tightly, and by the way he turned his head, it was obvious that he couldn't see them even though they were only a few feet in front of him. He didn't have anti-fog glasses.

"What are you doing here, Yosuke? You're supposed to be holding the rope!" Nanako chided. "Well, I guess it's okay, because we have Teddie to get us out, but still!"

"The rope snapped!" Yosuke said. He was still trying to locate them by sight and failing. "A customer was about to come by, and I pulled the rope and it broke. I panicked and tried to grab the end in the TV before it fell all the way in, but then I ended up falling in myself. Then, since I was here, and you said you were fighting monsters and all, I thought I could help."

"Well, we already took care of—" Nanako began.

"Thought you could help? What a load of crap!" From the corner of the room strode a figure that made Nanako sigh.

"Wh-what?" Yosuke squawked. "Why does it look like me?"

It was, of course, Yosuke's Shadow. _The detail on these Shadows,_ Nanako thought, _is pretty impressive. It even has the same set of headphones._

"Don't delude yourself!" the Shadow yelled. "All you wanted was to have fun! You were glad when the rope broke because it gave you an excuse to come in. Because you're so afraid of being left behind. Of being alone, of being forgotten, of being... useless!"

"That's... that's not true!" Yosuke shouted back. "What are you!? Who are you!?"

"I'm you! There's nothing I don't know about you! Like how sweet you are on Saki-senpai. Her brother's death is the perfect excuse to get closer to her!"

"NO! Y-you're not..." Yosuke's whole body was shaking in denial.

"It's okay, Yosuke!" Nanako said quickly. "It's—"

"_Don't interrupt, bitch!_"

Even the Shadow seemed surprised at its own words as a pregnant hush fell over the room. The atmosphere seemed to drop by ten degrees.

"In that case," Nanako murmured. "Yosuke! That's not you!" She lifted her naginata into the air and brought it down on the Shadow, which tried to skate away, but she caught its leg with a backhand swing and it tripped. It growled at her from the floor.

"Yeah! You're not me!"

As Yosuke denied his Shadow, it transformed into a monster. It seemed to be a giant frog with camouflage-patterned skin and a big yellow mustache. A dark figure with a long red scarf and large yellow gloves was riding its back. Yosuke himself fell down, unconscious.

"All right, girls," Nanako said. "Let's kick its ass!"

Green blades of wind swept up from the ground under her, stinging her eyes and cutting into her skin, but it didn't stop her from summoning Izanami to douse the Shadow with water. All the water seemed to do, however, was make it wet. Well, it was a frog, after all...

Chie tried an ice attack, but the Shadow seemed to shrug it off. It then swatted her with its oversized hand, knocking her back.

"Konohana Sakuya!"

Yukiko's Persona was as graceful as a dancing swan, or perhaps flamingo—it was rather pink after all. It swept up its wing- like fans and flames shot out at the Shadow. The fire grew in intensity like a bonfire around it. The Shadow cowered and screamed.

"Awesome, Yukiko!" Nanako said. But even though the flames had dissipated, she didn't think Izanami's water would be a good follow up. Nanako switched to one of her new Personas, Ukobach. The little green gremlin-like demon sent a fireball at the Shadow, but its fire was pitifully small compared to Yukiko's. Hmm, she'd have to ask Igor what was up with that.

The Shadow charged up, and then swept wind under them again. Really, was it trying to look up their skirts...? Well, it was Yosuke, after all... He definitely seemed the type.

Nanako hissed as the attack stung. Then light covered her body, and Nanako saw a flash of pink and felt much better. Ah, it seemed Yukiko's Persona could also heal. _That's great,_ she thought. Now she could focus on raw power herself!

She switched to Omoikane, the brain with tentacles. The lightning it produced knocked the frog flat on its back. She cheered as it squealed and then Chie attacked with her.

Yosuke's Shadow didn't survive the assault. Upon defeat, it turned back into its humanoid form, a calm, yellow-eyed Yosuke staring blankly at nothing.

The real Yosuke groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. "Did anyone get the number of that truck...?"

"Yosuke," Nanako said. "I lied. That really is a part of you. I just wanted to beat it up."

"Huh...?" the boy said, then he spotted his Shadow. "Oh... Nanako-san, I... That's not me..."

"It's okay," she told him with as real a smile as she could manage. "Look, I understand you're worried about being left behind. And that you want your life to be a little more exciting. Hell, that's pretty much my life's idiom! But I'll tell you this." She walked over to the Shadow and slapped its back in a friendly manner. "If you accept your evil dark side, I guarantee you'll be on my team."

"My evil dark side...?" he repeated. Then he sighed and walked towards his Shadow. "All right. You win. I was bored and upset about being left behind. Chie and Nanako-san were going to have all the fun without me..."

The Shadow nodded and flashed into its new form. It looked similar to the monster they'd defeated, only without the frog, although its face seemed vaguely frog-like. It even sported the same red scarf. "Jiraiya," Yosuke whispered. "This is my Persona..."

"Okay," said Nanako briskly. "Now that that's over with, let's get the hell out of here, okay? We'll talk about this tomorrow or something. I need sleep!"

* * *

><p>Souji didn't say a word, but Nanako saw him watching her with quiet concern from over his takeout box at the dinner table that evening. "Yeah, I might be getting sick again!" she told him in an overly chipper voice. "It must be the fresh air out here. I'm used to Tokyo's skanky pollution, you know!"<p>

"Is there enough medicine...?" he asked quietly, seeing right through her feigned cheerfulness.

She told him she'd be fine as long as she went to bed early, which she did, although she felt a little sad that she was leaving him out there in the living room all alone. He was a self-sufficient kid, though... She predicted he probably went to bed on time every night like clockwork. If she was him and lived without supervision like that, she'd totally stay up late every night watching bad television, the stuff her dad didn't want her to see. But she'd never been 'scarred for life' or whatever. If anything, her worldview had been expanded.

But she was aware that she was 'special,' so...

And she was also not only six years old. She wondered if Aunt Seta had any parental controls set in place on the TV before she drifted off...

* * *

><p>[AN: In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have introduced Marie here since we're not going to do anything with her for quite a long time. Readers should note that with her around, we are indeed following Golden's events (the game, not the anime). Well, to a point... Not everything it added was worth anything, hehe.<p>

Next Chapter: Roll Call

Nanako begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding Yukiko's kidnapping. There is also fun with social links, and the team gets named! (PS: it's not the 'Investigation Team,' heh heh)]


	7. Chapter 7 - Roll Call

[4/18: Monday]

Nanako whimpered in bed the next morning. She felt like she'd been thrown into the washing machine and had tumbled around in it all night. She was aching all over, sure that even her bruises had bruises. But even though it was very difficult—nay, painful!—to get out of bed, she was satisfied. They'd done it. They'd foiled the killer by rescuing his—or her, Nanako was equal-opportunity here—intended victim.

Of course, nothing was stopping the killer from trying again. She wondered how soon the killer would realize he or she had been thwarted. Was the killer familiar with the inner workings of the TV World? Did they know how the Shadows were affected by weather? According to Teddie, it was all about the fog. If someone was in the TV World when it was severely foggy in the real world, the person would die because the Shadows would become violent. Nanako didn't get it—weren't the Shadows already violent?

The killer had acted so quickly. Mayumi Yamano died Tuesday, Naoki Konishi on Friday, and Yukiko had been in the TV World by midnight on Saturday night... Nanako had only just rolled into town a week ago.

It meant that she had to act quickly, too. She glanced at her rows of Loveline manga on the shelf and decided it was time to start investigating.

Except that she had to go to school. On the bright side, it was another sunny day. She didn't know if she could manage to lift an umbrella over her head the entire way to school. Her arms felt like jelly, like she'd been pumping iron and she was even now still carrying the weights. She supposed she sort of had, what with waving that naginata around so much yesterday. Working out was something she'd never really considered, but it was probably a good thing, what with all the takeout she was eating. It was too bad she didn't know how to cook anything but ramen.

She'd have to do that, too: start a training regimen. Hmm, she should start a one for her friends, too, whip them all into shape. Chie was doing great, but she was focusing too much on her lower body. Yukiko looked fragile, like a porcelain doll, but she probably had strength of some sort. They'd have to decide on a weapon that would fit her. Yosuke was rather thin and reedy and probably had a high metabolism. If he worked with knives like he planned, he'd probably focus more on agility than strength, and that would probably suit him.

Ugh, her muscles were too sore to think about training. She needed to buy some muscle rub, that's for sure. She'd planned for many things, but not that.

She was in the middle of changing oh-so-slowly when her phone began to ring, and it wasn't a number in her contact list. Thinking it might be Yukiko—perhaps Chie had given her number to her—Nanako answered with her bra only half-way on. "Heya~" _Are you aware that you kind of caught me in a compromising position?_

"Hello..." said a mature female voice. "I realize this is sudden, but it's Margaret. We met at the Velvet Room."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I don't know another Margaret," Nanako said. It was a very Western name, after all. "What's up? And how did you get my number?"

"We residents of the Velvet Room have some insight into the hearts of our guests."

"My phone number is written on my heart? Well, okay." _Are you sure it's my heart and not my mind?_

"I am calling to remind you that there is more to combat than the physical—"

"Wow, you really did read my mind!" Nanako exclaimed, since physical training was exactly what she'd been thinking of before the call.

Margaret did not answer.

"Uh, I mean, do go on, please. I am listening."

The articulate woman told her that Social Links were just as important to develop as her strength and her Personas.

While Margaret went on, Nanako was reminded of how time seemed to stop for a moment when she acquired a new Social Link. Not long, about ten to fifteen seconds. The next time it happened, she'd have to see if she could move during it. The ability to stop time could be very useful indeed...

But man, she really didn't need to be told to make friends. She was pretty outgoing, anyway. Then she wondered how many different arcana there were and how many links she had to make. This could get complicated. And how would she know when someone was going to be important to her? It would suck if she buttered up some random guy and he turned out to be normal and she'd wasted her time.

Eh, she would just trust her instincts. Maybe her Personas would give her some hints, too. Igor had said something about the 'bonds' of her 'Social Links' giving them strength somehow.

She thanked Margaret for the tip, and after ending the call she tried to put the number into her contact list, but to her surprise, it didn't show up in her call log, as if the woman had never called her at all.

* * *

><p>On the way to school, Nanako spied Yukiko being hassled by a group of other students. Chie was at her side, hands on her hips, defending her. What was the big deal? Nanako moved closer and discovered that everyone was curious as to where Yukiko had been over the weekend. Nanako hadn't been aware of it, but Yukiko's parents had apparently reported her disappearance to the police, and now people thought she'd run away from home or something. What a pain.<p>

But better having to deal with dumb rumors than being dead, Nanako decided. Besides, Yukiko had Chie to help her get rid of the more persistent badgers. It seemed like the excuse she was giving them was that she'd been sick. From her time in the TV World, she even looked the part, what with the circles under her eyes. She claimed her parents had missed her because she was asleep and therefore couldn't answer the phone or the door to her room. The story held up until people looked more deeply into it, which fortunately no one seemed to be doing.

Nanako had wanted to have a nice long talk with Yukiko, but by the end of the school day, the girl was looking too harried. It could wait, Nanako decided. Besides, she had other things to do.

Like investigating! She'd been thinking about it all day during class, and the Amagi Inn was probably the best place to start. She was sure she could ask around there for information without getting in Yukiko's way. The sooner she asked, the more likely people would be to remember the circumstances of her disappearance.

And mayyybe she had an ulterior motive. Maybe she could at least see check out the hot springs. Oh, did that sound heavenly... Her muscles were screaming for it!

The Amagi Inn was on the northern outskirts of town, a bus ride away. She supposed it made sense that it was far away. It was a tourist attraction, after all, and its isolation was probably part of its charm. Visitors would feel like they're really getting away from it all.

It was definitely old, she thought when she looked at it. Very... traditional. It probably had the shoji and the fusuma and the tatami mats and floor futons in every room. There probably wasn't a chair to be found—zabuton only. If you're lucky, there'd be zaisu instead...

Nanako was too young to have much respect for tradition, really.

Instead of entering the inn, she walked down the side path which weaved through a garden. There she met a groundskeeper and played her 'I'm from Tokyo, what is all this?' card to get him talking. He was friendly enough and she learned all about different breeds of Japanese pine. From there she segued into more important questions about how the inn worked, and even more importantly did you happen to see the young Amagi girl on Saturday at all...?

She discovered that most of the inn considered Yukiko their little princess. The inn, then, was her castle, and from there it was no wonder her mind had created that place in the TV World... but it didn't explain why it was so hellish. Actually, maybe it wasn't demonic and simply reflected Yukiko's love of the color red. There hadn't been any anarchy symbols or demon summoning circles in there, after all. Not one dribbly candle, although she remembered a few intricate chandeliers.

After she was sure she'd gleaned as much information as she could from this man, she entered the inn from a side door and randomly found the laundry room, where a nice old lady was folding sheets. Nanako offered to 'help out' and the woman accepted, and so the interrogation began once again.

Then she'd sneaked away and found the changing area for the hot springs, but since she was not a patron, she was caught by a not-so-friendly man and asked to leave the premises until she could afford to be there.

But her primary goal had been accomplished. She now had a much clearer picture of what had happened on Saturday. The inn had been crazy busy because of a sudden influx of tourists morbidly interested in the death of Mayumi Yamano and wanting to stay there for the weekend. Nanako recalled that Yukiko had skipped school that Saturday (She remembered because she'd been thinking, 'Damn I shoulda skipped too.') because her parents had seriously needed her help.

Because it was so busy, most employees hadn't kept tabs on the inn's most precious asset. But one particular fellow recalled that he'd last seen Yukiko answering the delivery door in the back of the inn. He'd heard a truck's engine, too, and then he'd been called away, but he hadn't seen her after that, and even more interesting was there had been no delivery that day. In fact, they hadn't even been expecting one...

Still, if the killer had kidnapped Yukiko by pretending to be a delivery man, well, how could he be certain Yukiko would be the one to answer the delivery door? It seemed a precarious plan. And with the inn so busy, wouldn't it have been dangerous? He could easily have been caught in the act.

At the same time, the inn being busy could work to the killer's advantage as people wouldn't notice one more person around. A wolf in sheep's clothing, so to speak. Yukiko had been seen speaking with several different people throughout the day, and none could identify anyone unusual in particular. Nanako hypothesized that the killer had the truck parked in the back and sneaked into the inn to find his prize. Conveniently, his intended victim had answered the door and made his job super easy.

So the only info she'd learned was that the killer probably had a truck. Way to go, Nanako...

Well, it was a start, anyway. And besides, how many people had trucks in this small town? Couldn't be too many. If only someone had seen it.

Her phone rang, yet another number she didn't have in her contact list. "Yo," she answered.

"'Yo,' yourself. It's Yosuke. I asked Chie for your number."

"What, too chicken to ask yourself?" she teased.

"You already left the classroom before I could," the boy explained. "I wanted to talk to you after class, but you can move when you're determined, huh?"

"Heh heh..."

"So, Nanako-san, can we talk?"

"We're talking now, right?" she pointed out. "What's on your mind?"

"I meant in person. Are you busy?"

Nanako looked out at the setting sun. The sky on the horizon was a beautiful creamy pink. A little deeper and it would be the same shade as her Loveline umbrella. "Uh, I kind of need to get home for dinner. Can it wait 'til tomorrow?" Besides, she wasn't even in town. She was still waiting at the bus stop near the inn.

"Do you think you could sneak out of the house after that? I dunno, I just..." He sighed.

This town felt like it probably had a curfew, but she had no qualms about breaking it. "No problem. Where do you wanna meet?"

He asked if she knew how to get to the shopping district on her own, and she agreed to meet him there later.

* * *

><p>Dinner was ramen soup from a place called Aiya. Upon tasting it, Nanako sighed in delight because it was so good and then again in resignation because she'd never hope to match it. The beef flavor overwhelmed the senses because it was authentic and not made from bouillon or little flavor packages.<p>

After eating and making sure her cousin was settled in front of the television and watching age-appropriate cartoons, she asked if it was okay if she left the house. "Don't worry, I'll lock the door."

"You're going out...?" he asked, blinking at her. Did Souji look troubled? It was hard to tell.

"Y-yeah..."

After a moment he said, "Okay," and turned back to the TV.

She sighed to herself upon locking the door behind her. Her little hermit of a cousin... She had no qualms about breaking curfew, but leaving him all alone left a poor taste in her mouth.

...This social link had better be worth it!

Inaba was creepy after nightfall. It really was. She wasn't alone on the streets, so it wasn't a ghost town, but it was just so quiet compared to Tokyo. Any noise seemed extra loud in the overwhelming silence. A conversation from a side alley came to her ears crystal clear, and a dog barking to itself in the distance instilled a sense of loneliness.

The streets were also rather dark and not very well lit. It was lucky the moon was almost full, otherwise she might be tempted to use her pocket flashlight.

Fortunately the lighting around the central shopping district was bright enough despite most of the stores being closed. Probably to deter vandals, she decided. Hmm, so this was the shopping district. Honestly, she hadn't a chance to explore it yet. Now would be a good a time as any.

Ah! There was that gas station she'd been to last week. It was closed. It was probably the only gas station in town. There was no sign of that creepy guy who'd wanted to shake her hand. _You're supposed to exchange business cards when you do that,_ she thought. Not that she had any of her own, but still.

She walked briskly past that place, just in case. Next to it was a bookstore and then... Whoa, a very elaborate, impossibly transparent blue door. Why exactly was there a Velvet Room door right here...? Oh, so she could visit without entering the TV, probably. Could Yosuke wait a few more minutes?

Of course he could. She took out the key and strode through the door.

"Hey Igor!" she greeted.

He lifted his fingers in welcome, but Margaret was the one who asked her how they could help.

"Well, lady, I got all these Persona cards and someone told me he could make bigger and better ones...?"

"Ah, you wish to utilize fusion..."

"Yeah! What can you make with bondage angel and upskirt nymph...?"

Nanako spent a long time learning about Fusion Forecast, the Persona Compendium, and skill inheritance rules. She also made some sweet new Personas that she couldn't wait to show off to Chie. Unfortunately it burned through almost all of her allowance because Igor's services weren't free. It's probably how he could afford so much brandy...

When she returned to the shopping district, Yosuke was calling her name. She turned her head and saw him walking towards her. He was still wearing his Yasogami uniform. Well, so was she, to be fair. "What's that key?" he asked.

Hmm? Oh, she was still holding the Velvet Key. It was rather conspicuous and didn't fit that well in her jacket pocket. "It's for this big blue door."

He looked at her politely and waited for her to continue.

"The one that's right here in front of me?"

"That's... a wall," he said slowly.

_Yeah, I really am special,_ she thought, _and now even Yosuke knows it._

"A-anyway!" she rallied on. "What was so important that you made me come all the way out here after dark when by all rights I should be nice and safe at home?"

He looked stricken, and Nanako realized Yosuke was a bit sensitive to her chastisement. With Chie he'd have made a silly joke, but maybe he didn't know Nanako well enough. He still called her '-san' after all. "Umm, w-well, I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday..."

"Oh, about your evil dark side?"

"Yeah. What was that...?"

Nanako explained as well she could that apparently in the TV World, a person's suppressed emotions could manifest like that and turn into a monster. Denying its words would trigger the transformation. "It happened to Chie, too. I had to kick its ass, and all by myself, too!"

"What, Chie had one?" he exclaimed. "I thought it was just me!" His shoulders relaxed; he was quite relieved to hear that. She realized he'd probably been carrying that like a burden all day.

"Yeah!" said Nanako. "She didn't tell you? I guess we haven't been all that communicative, have we? I'll be honest, Yosuke-kun. I didn't want to tell you about our Personas, mainly because I was too damned tired after getting mine, but also because I didn't want you to feel left out. So much for that, huh?" She laughed lightly so that he'd know she wasn't upset about it.

"The rope really did break..." he said, his eyes downcast. Then he looked up at her. "Hey, if you had to save Chie, then who saved you when your Shadow came out?"

"Oh, I didn't have a Shadow. Because I'm special." She said it easily, but it troubled her a little. She supposed it was because she was the first to have the power. It had to start somewhere, right? Speaking of the power, she added, "By the way, you can probably enter the TV World on your own now, but I'm going to make it Rule #2 that we never go in there alone. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I can see that. Say, what was Chie's Shadow like?"

"A dominatrix," she replied without shame.

Yosuke laughed. "R-really...? Uh... I meant more like what it said."

_It was worried I was trying to get into Yukiko's pants. Or kimono, I guess._ "You know, I think maybe Chie should be the one to tell you."

"That's not fair, everyone saw mine..."

"Let's just say that Chie and Yukiko are best friends," Nanako said, "and maybe they had some doubts about that which needed to be resolved."

Yosuke seemed to mull that over. "Hey, Nanako-san... Can we go into the TV World tomorrow? I want to... practice, I guess. See what Jiraiya can do. It seems like he has wind skills."

"Good, because I just got rid of bondage angel."

"...what?"

"Never mind!"

Yosuke watched her for a bit, then continued. "Umm, there was something else my Shadow said..."

"About Saki-senpai?" she guessed.

"Y-yeah... I-I'm not using her brother's death to get close to her. I promise. That's just..."

"Feeling sorry for someone isn't really a good basis for a relationship," Nanako said, not intending to preach, but really, he needed to know this. "Besides, she might already have a boyfriend."

When he asked how she knew, she explained how they'd heard Naoki talking about it in the TV World.

Nanako could tell he was trying to hide his dejection, but since he was a sensitive guy, his emotions were pretty easy to read. "She really shouldn't have been leading you on," she added, not unkindly.

Yosuke looked away. "...I'm used to it." When she stared at him, he sighed. "Back in the city, I was used to people being nice to me just to use my store discount at Junes. And here I'm the store manager's son, so... This is just the next level, right?" He sounded like he accepted it, but his eyes were definitely wet.

"Damn! I went shopping and I didn't even think about using your discount!" she declared. He smiled a little at that and murmured that maybe she really was special. She smiled back and assured him that he'd prove himself tomorrow in the TV World. "Come on. Let's go home. We're both gonna need the rest."

* * *

><p>[419: Tuesday]

Sports teams were recruiting at school, but Nanako didn't have time for that. She was running her own team now, anyway! Yeah, no one had appointed her the leader, but there was no doubt that she was the one in charge. In fact, she'd kind of ordered everyone to meet up at the Junes food court. Yukiko had tried to cut out because she was still tired, but Nanako just stared her down in the same way Adachi had stared down that cop interrogating Yosuke the other day, and she'd given in. You could learn from adults, you really could.

There was a long rectangular wooden table at the food court meant for large parties. It had bench seating—it was probably more at home at a public park. Regardless, Nanako had grabbed an external chair and seated herself at the head of the table. Yosuke was on the bench at her right, and Yukiko and Chie were next to each other to her left.

Nanako ahem'd. "I call to order the first official meeting of Nanako's DEATH Squad. First order of business: Yosuke, go buy me a drink with your discount."

"Wh-what?" Yosuke squawked. "What's with that name?"

"It's the name of our team," she told him. "Nanako's DEATH Squad. The 'DEATH' is in all caps. Very important."

"Why's your name have to be in it?" he further protested, crossing his arms. "Come on..."

"What, you wanna challenge me for leadership? That's how it works in Nanako's DEATH Squad. It's like a wolf pack. If you beat me, then you're the new alpha."

Yosuke tilted his head. "N-no, I think I'm okay. But that name is ridiculous. Come on, you girls have to agree!"

Chie was just sort of laughing, but Yukiko had a dreamy look. "DEATH Squad has a nice ring to it..." she commented.

"Yes! I knew you'd approve!" Nanako said, flashing Yosuke a victorious smirk. "Anyway, why isn't there a drink in front of me yet?"

"I thought you weren't going to abuse my discount..." he muttered.

"I never said that. And you owe me for getting you unarrested, anyway! Adachi-san suggested ice cream, but I'm feeling generous so just get me a Dr. Salt NEO."

A few minutes later Yosuke produced drinks for everyone. Chie complained about the lack of steak in the order, but otherwise everyone sans Yosuke was satisfied.

"Anyway," Nanako went on after taking a long sip of her soda. "We need to lay some ground rules. Rule #1, as everyone knows, is don't throw people into the TV, even as a joke. As an extension, don't show off your TV-entering power because... uh... we don't wanna give anyone a heart attack, or attract attention. None of us want to end up in a science lab somewhere, right?

"Rule #2 is no one goes in alone. As an extension of this rule, I'm gonna say no one goes in alone and without letting everyone else know. So let's all exchange phone numbers, okay? I've already got Chie and Yosuke, so, Yukiko, if you'll be so kind." She opened her phone and looked at the raven-haired girl.

"Oh, I didn't actually program your number in mine," Yosuke told Nanako. "So... what's your number?"

Nanako ordered him to hand over his phone. She programmed it in herself and gave it an awesome ring tone. Heh, she was kind of excited to call him, now, just to make him go 'what' when it rang.

When that was over, Nanako went on to the next order of business. "Yukiko, I know you don't remember much, but maybe I can jog your memory. It's Saturday afternoon. Maybe evening, maybe after dark. I don't know. But anyway, you're at the inn, and suddenly you get a call for a delivery. What. Happens. Next?"

"A delivery?" Yukiko repeated, her voice a murmur. "Well, either I or my parents have to sign it off in the Amagi name."

"So to an outsider, it's a one-third chance that you'd be the one to answer the delivery door, yes?"

"I suppose... but my mother is ill, so that would cut it to half. We weren't expecting a delivery that Saturday. I remember being confused about it when I was told to answer the door."

"Ah! Who told you to answer the door?" Nanako requested. It could be... an accomplice!

"My father, actually. He was busy with our hot springs technician because we had a faulty reading on one of the temperature regulators."

"I doubt it was an inside job," Nanako murmured. "Well, so you answered the door and then you were nabbed? Did you see anything?"

"Oh, yes, I do remember something!" Yukiko's eyes brightened suddenly.

"Yes, yes?" Nanako pressed on eagerly.

"The person shined a light into my face, and since it was dark out, I couldn't see. Then I smelled something sweet, and after that I woke up in the castle."

"Chloroform, probably," Nanako said with a sigh. "Interesting about the light, though. Clever, actually. That would blind you long enough to give the kidnapper time to chloroform you, no problem."

"There's not much you can do to defend against that, either," Yosuke contributed. "Unless you go around with one eye closed all the time. Here's something I don't think we've addressed yet. I think all of the victims, including Yukiko-san, were seen on TV before they were taken in."

"Yes, we know about the Midnight Channel," Chie said, rolling her eyes.

"I mean _actual_ TV. Ms. Yamano was a newscaster, and Naoki was interviewed on the news because he'd discovered her body. And then Yukiko-san was interviewed in a segment shown on Friday."

"Oh, yes..." said Yukiko. "I remember that now. A lot of people have been wanting to film at the inn. It's becoming a problem."

"I wish people would mind their own business!" Chie snapped.

Nanako drummed her fingers on the hard wood of the table. Was the culprit one of the people filming that news segment? They specifically sought out people who'd then be targeted? No, that was looking at it backwards. The killer saw them on the segment and then wanted to kill them? That didn't make any sense either. And what did the Midnight Channel have to do with all this...? The killer saw them on the Midnight Channel and that was his sign to KILL. Ugh, could her hypotheses get any sillier?

She shook her head. "Well, that's interesting, but lots of people get interviewed on the news, so I'm not sure we can identify the next target by watching. It's worth a shot, though, so that'll be your job, okay, Yosuke?"

"Sure, I can do that." He winked at her, which was weird, but he seemed to do that a lot.

"Chie," she continued. "I want you to keep an eye on Yukiko. Maybe the killer will know he—or she—has been stopped and will target her again. I don't want to take that chance."

"Y-yeah," Chie agreed. "I'm fine with that." She exchanged a glance with Yukiko and Nanako suspected they might be holding hands under the table.

Nanako stood up. "Well, that's enough sitting around. Even though I'm still sore as hell from Sunday, I promised Yosuke-kun we'd start training today. Are you all ready?"

As the group agreed, Nanako heard that familiar sound of something shattering, and prepared to move during the time stop.

_I am thou..._

She moved. Yes, she could move!

_Thou art I..._

She grabbed Yosuke's half-empty cup of soda and shoved her own straw into it.

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

She drank down the rest of his soda, which was Orange Smash, and pulled her straw out...

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana..._

And placed the cup back down just in time. She sat back quickly and then time began to flow again.

"All right," she said. "We're going in. I'm excited, actually. We can learn to work as a team! Nanako's DEATH Squad. Hmm, I'll have to come up with a motto."

"Three cheers for Nanako-san?" Yosuke suggested. He seemed to have come to terms with the team name now. Or maybe he was poking fun at her. It was hard to tell.

"Nah, that'll be our victory cry," Nanako told him. "Or at least when I make the finishing blow." _Which will be often,_ she told herself. _I'm special, after all._ She knew now that by 'special' Igor meant her 'wild card' ability to utilize more than one Persona, unlike her friends... but though she knew the proper terminology, she just wanted to continue calling herself special. Who wouldn't?

Everyone stood up to leave the food court, but before leaving, Nanako noticed Yosuke frown at his empty cup of soda. She had to look away to hide her evil smile. It was for his own good, really. Now he was less likely to need to use the bathroom.

They entered the big TV at Junes without too much ceremony. Nanako had Yosuke enter first so that he could see that he indeed had the power to enter on his own now. Yukiko followed him with Chie right on her tail, and Nanako went in last.

Teddie was right there waiting for them on the stage backlot. "Boss! And Boss's friends!"

"That's right!" Nanako said buoyantly. "Teddie, did you make glasses for Yosuke-kun?"

"I sure did, Boss! Here you go, Yosuke!" Teddie handed out a pair of orange-framed glasses. The bear had taste, that was for sure. They looked good on Yosuke and matched with his ever-present orange headphones.

With the glasses on, Yosuke noted how the fog was gone. Nanako informed him that it would stop them from getting tired so easily. Apparently the way the fog moved affected the eyes and exhausted the body, or something... It was the TV World, so that was as good an explanation as any, really.

"So Teddie... lives here?" Yosuke asked, eyeing the bear critically. "Why? Where did you come from?"

"I don't know," Teddie replied. "All I know is that I've always lived here, just me and the Shadows, and it used to be peaceful and now it's not. You've got to help Boss make it better!"

"'Boss'? You really have an ego, don't you, Nanako-san?" Yosuke said with an amused chuckle.

"It's _Nanako's_ DEATH Squad," she replied. "Not Yosuke's. Nanako's. I'm the boss."

"Y-yeah, okay," he said. "Teddie... Are you sure you aren't a circus clown who fell into the TV? You have a zipper, so I think you're just a guy in a costume."

"Teddie is Teddie," the bear said, as if that answered everything. "But Teddie is not a human."

Nanako watched the bear with narrowed eyes. Yosuke noticed her thoughtful expression. "Nanako-san, you're not going to let him get away with that, are you?"

"At the same time," Nanako said, "what if he's, like, a naked old man who's been in here for decades?"

"Only one way to find out, right?" Yosuke grabbed Teddie by the arm, and the bear flailed to get away.

"No!" Teddie cried as Nanako caught his other arm. "B-Boss! I thought we were friends!"

Nanako nodded at Yosuke over the bear's head and together they unzipped the costume.

And then backed away quickly, because there was nothing inside it.

"Whoa!" Chie exclaimed. "He's really empty!"

Teddie's lower body, somehow standing up on its own, waved its stubby arms and tried to get its head back from Yosuke, who was standing there kind of stunned. "Th-that's not normal..."

"It's the TV World," Nanako said with a sigh. "We should have known. Calm down, Teddie, we'll put your head back on."

Once his head had been reunited with his body, Teddie moved to the far side of the stage and began pouting and whining about how rude they were.

"Sorry, Teddie, but we had to know. We're... very curious people," Nanako said soothingly. "We wanna know all about this world, and all about you, too."

The bear perked up. "You... want to know about me?"

"Sure. Why not? You're part of Nanako's DEATH Squad, too. Support division."

Teddie wiggled his ears. "All right! I'll do my best!"

Nanako ordered her team into a line for a weapons check after picking up her own naginata from where she had left it the other day on the stage floor. She used it as a walking stick as she moved down the line like a general. Chie clanked the toe of one of her boots against the floor in solidarity. Yosuke was tossing a knife up and down—upon closer examination, the knife had a plastic slip over the blade so that he wouldn't cut himself while he practiced. Yukiko was fanning herself with a Japanese paper fan.

Nanako stopped before Yukiko, who smiled coyly at her from behind the fan. "Yes?" the raven-haired girl asked.

"I've been thinking about it," Nanako said, "and I'm not sure what weapon you should use. I wonder if Daidara-san has any hand crossbows or some—what."

Yukiko had thrown her fan and hit Teddie with it. The bear squealed in pain, and Yukiko apologized and summoned her Persona, which bathed the bear in light and mystically fixed the tear in his costume.

"...Works for me," Nanako told her. She continued brightly. "Next up, we'll take stock of what all of our Personas can do." She rummaged in the plastic supply crate and pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

Yukiko's Konohana Sakuya specialized in both fire and recovery. The fire was still way more powerful than anything Nanako could summon, which made her very, very jealous. She'd asked Igor and he'd said that Yukiko's acceptance of her Shadow might have empowered her other self juuust a smidgeon.

Chie's Tomoe specialized in ice and physical strength. The ice wasn't very strong compared to the physical. Nanako suspected that's because Chie would rather have her Persona attack with its double-sided naginata. It was a pretty cool weapon, she had to admit.

Yosuke's Jiraiya specialized in wind. He could also recover, but not to the same extent that Yukiko could. He could only aid one person at a time, whereas she could affect everyone at once. It could serve as an emergency backup, though.

Nanako was pretty satisfied by the diversity of her squad. And what they lacked, she could pick up with her own Personas. "Look what I can do!" she declared. "Persona!"

An armor-clad man with red-orange wings appeared and swung a sword at nothing.

"No more bondage angel! It's now Archangel!" Nanako was very proud that she could summon a male persona.

"That is cool, Nanako-san," Yosuke told her, and she positively glowed. "Umm, Chie said you had others, too?"

Nanako nodded and showed off the next one.

It was a caped warrior woman carrying two swords on a red-maned horse. Valkyrie, she told them. Yes, she was running a theme here...

"Do you still have Izanami?" Chie asked. "You should show him that, since it was your first."

Nanako nodded again. She had actually used Izanami in fusion, but she'd brought the goddess back out via the Compendium. She'd felt empty without her, somehow. Even if it had emptied her wallet!

She also showed them Slime, which looked like green barf puddle with a face, and then a shaggy green dog with huge ears, Cu Sith. She still had Omoikane on hand, too, since it was the only one of them with electricity at the moment.

"How do you get new Personas, anyway?" Chie asked.

"Magic," she said. "Expensive magic." It was easier to explain than the whole Velvet Room thing. "Come on, let's find some Shadows and ruin their day."

They headed to Yukiko's Castle. Their first battle as a team was kind of a mess. Everyone was so excited to use their Personas that there was no coordination, and when Nanako almost got caught in the crossfire between Yukiko's fire and Yosuke's wind, she called a time-out.

"All right! I think we're gonna do this differently. You guys need direction, and since I'm the leader, you're gonna follow my orders, okay?"

They tried again, this time not acting until Nanako told them to. It was still a little shaky—there was some hesitation in response to her commands, which one time led to Yosuke's face getting wrecked by a raven's claws, but she was sure the hesitation would be smoothed out with practice.

_I'm gonna be hoarse tomorrow,_ Nanako thought, _from shouting all these orders._

As she watched Chie ice up a demon table (complete with silverware), she decided she was happy with her DEATH Squad. They were a bit rough around the edges, but they'd do. They had potential. And maybe with time she'd add more members to the squad...

"Boss!" Teddie suddenly sounded into their minds. "There's a beary strong Shadow at the top of the castle. It's making my fur stand up!"

"DEATH Squad, assemble!" Nanako shouted. "Let's take that bad boy out!"

However, the top of the castle was far, far away. As it turned out, the TV World had a short-term memory, and the layout of the castle would scramble over time, meaning the string guiding them to the top had been torn to pieces and they had to essentially start all over again.

By the time they fought their way to the top, everyone was too tired to face the dangerous Shadow lurking in the throne room. Another day, perhaps...

* * *

><p>That evening Nanako 'took one for the team' by messing about with her flashlight in the darkness of her room. It really wasn't all that possible to prepare against being blinded by it, although Yosuke's comments about having one eye closed were indeed true. The closed eye would still be able to see in darkness while the other eye was blinded. However, it didn't allow for perfect vision as the afterglow from the blinded eye interfered with the darkness-adjusted eye. Besides, nothing was stopping the killer from blinding the other eye once it was finally opened.<p>

As for defending against chloroform, there wasn't much you could do except not breathe it in. And with a rag in front of your face, that wasn't easy to do. Nanako timed how long she could hold her own breath and it wasn't too long, about a minute and a half. She could probably improve it with practice, though. Maybe she could start doing that when class was boring. Worst case scenario, she fainted in class and had to be sent to the nurse's office. And then she'd be out of class. Win-win, right?

* * *

><p>[AN: It bothered me in the game that Yukiko couldn't remember anything about being kidnapped, and that you couldn't investigate it any further.<p>

The 'time stop' thing was partially inspired by Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It won't be used for anything plot-important, so don't worry if you find it silly.

The Yosuke interaction at the shopping district was difficult to write! I have a tendency to either be too nice or too mean to him, hehe. But I think it turned out nice. With this, even though Saki is alive, you can see that his social link won't necessarily be Saki-centric.

Next Chapter: Of Kings and Kids

Nanako's DEATH Squad takes on their biggest foe yet, and Nanako spends quality time with her family.]


	8. Chapter 8 - Of Kings and Kids

[Summary: In this chapter, Nanako supports Saki Konishi, gets lectured by a teacher, takes on a part-time job, and learns a little about what makes her aunt tick. The DEATH Squad also gets together to battle the Contrarian King.]

* * *

><p>[420: Wednesday]

Nanako decided she could get used to this body-numbing exhaustion. It was exhilarating somehow. The soreness felt like... progress.

What she couldn't get used to was Souji's concern. When she winced while bumping into the table, he asked if she was okay.

"I'm totally fine!" she declared.

He didn't look convinced, especially after she winced again when simply getting up from her seat after breakfast.

"Pain is all in the mind," she told him. "I worked out yesterday. You know. For, uh, sports club."

She hoped he'd be curious enough to maybe ask what sport, but he didn't say anything. Hermit child... She vowed to spend more time with him this coming Sunday after their morning television. Maybe she'd take him to a park or something.

* * *

><p>Nanako told the DEATH Squad that they could relax today. Entering the TV and fighting otherworldly demon things was just too tiring to do every day. Yosuke apparently had to work, anyway, so it worked out.<p>

She thought about investigating the murders, but wasn't sure where to start. She considered snooping around at the police station, but that was asking for trouble. She probably wouldn't be able to invoke Adachi-san's name to get her out of any mess, nor was she crude enough to invoke her uncle's name. And her dad's name carried no weight here at all.

Saki Konishi, then, was her goal for today. Nanako found her sitting at the bus stop at the southern end of the central shopping district.

"Saki-senpai," Nanako said, unsure of whether she should be chipper or solemn in addressing the upperclassman.

"Oh... it's you. How are you...?" The senior definitely wasn't the same woman Nanako had met last week. Her brother's death must have hit her hard. Nanako had no siblings, but she thought she could understand...

"How are you holding up?" Nanako asked, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"I'm just holding up, barely," Saki replied. "Life sucks."

Nanako nodded. "Just when you think you've got it all worked out, some shit happens, am I right?"

Saki laughed lightly. "I don't think I ever had it all worked out." She shook her head. "I miss my brother, damn it. My family's just about fallen apart."

"Well, hold it together!" Nanako said. "I'll help you if I can."

"I don't know anymore. My parents hate me. I think... They wish it was me—that I died instead of Naoki."

Nanako recalled what she'd learned from Naoki's memories in the replica shopping district in the TV World. Her family yelling at her for working at Junes, for not taking pride in the family business. "I don't know if I'd go that far. You might want to reconcile with them. Not now, but maybe after some time passes. You're their only daughter, right?"

Saki nodded and sighed.

"I hate to do this to you," said Nanako, "but... what happened? I promise I'm not asking to get gossip or anything."

"I don't know," Saki said, burying her face in her hands so her voice was only a mumble. She sighed again and then leaned back. "I was working late that night. I came home and my parents were panicking because Naoki had gone missing. He'd never come home from school. I know he went to school that day because we walk there together. Usually we walk home together, too, but since I had to work I just went straight to Junes. I didn't see him at all that afternoon."

"That's right, you and Naoki were the first to see that announcer lady's body..."

"Y-yeah..." Saki shuddered. "We'd cut out of class early together because it was the first day of school and who cared?" She made a sorrowful face as she obviously regretted that decision.

It probably wouldn't be prudent to question her about the corpse. "A TV antenna, and then a telephone pole. This is messed up. Why would they want to kill your brother?"

"I don't know. The police were worried about the killer going after me next. They questioned me over and over again, thinking maybe Naoki or I saw something to identify the killer. If Naoki knew, he would have told me. He didn't tell me anything. He didn't act any differently so it's not like he was hiding something. Believe me. I knew my brother pretty well. We were two years apart, but I knew him."

"What are you going to do now?"

Although Nanako had asked in a more metaphorical sense, Saki answered, "I was thinking about getting my hair done, but I'm sure people will bother me about it if I do..."

"How do you mean?"

"Like, 'Look at Saki. Her brother's dead and yet she still took the time to look good! She should be in mourning!'"

"Oh, screw them!" Nanako exclaimed. "You've got to take care of yourself! Here, I'll come with and we can get it done together!"

Saki stared at her for a moment and then broke into a smile. "Sure. The bus should be here any minute."

Nanako hadn't anticipated that Saki could be a social link, but sure enough, that shattering sound happened and she was hearing voices in her head. A large crescent moon was depicted on the card in her mind.

* * *

><p>[421: Thursday]

Yosuke asked Nanako what was up with her hair the next morning. She was wearing it long instead of tied back, and it had been permed so it was wavy. It wasn't as pretty as Saki's, in her own opinion, because the color was dark, which made it obvious that it was permed, but she was happy enough with it. "Like it?"

"Yeah," Yosuke said. "You should wear your hair down more often."

She wouldn't. She'd already swallowed more than one strand from it flapping into her mouth. Long hair just got in her way too often. Maybe she should get it cut short like Chie.

Besides, Souji had stared at her all night last night because of how different it was from the norm…

She sighed. "Thanks anyway."

"So, umm, Nanako-san..." Yosuke continued. "I don't work today. I was wondering if you had any plans."

"We're going in today!" she told him cheerfully. "We gotta beat up that mega Shadow that's scaring Teddie." Reclaim Hell's Castle from the demon lord, or whatever. "Are you on board with that?"

He leaned forward in his desk in excitement. "Yeah!"

"Good, because 'no' wasn't an option."

* * *

><p>Teddie showed them a way to go straight to the top of the castle. It hadn't been available earlier, and when questioned, the bear said the TV World would memorize their progress somehow. Nanako wasn't going to complain. She needed her team ready to fight this thing, not tired from fighting through several floors of Shadows.<p>

"It's beeeary strong," Teddie warned with a whimper when they were standing outside the huge double-door to the throne room. "Boss, it's scary. I don't think you should go in there."

"We can't get better as a team if we don't face the challenge," Nanako said. "Are you all with me? DEATH Squad."

Yosuke was pumped. He threw up a dagger—without the plastic sleeve—and nimbly caught it. Obviously he had been practicing. "Let's do this!"

"It's _my_ castle," Yukiko said with a sniff.

"Yeah! No squatters allowed!" Chie declared.

Without further ado, Nanako pushed open the door. Inside was a Shadow a few feet taller than Yosuke, who was the tallest member of the squad. It was a cartoonish king with curly white hair, beady little black eyes, an ashen face, and a white mustache. It wore royal red robes and carried a fancy golden scepter. Its pink crown was its arcana mask. Emperor, Teddie told her. He also said its name was the Contrarian King.

Upon seeing them, the King formed a red barrier before himself. Teddie informed them that it would protect the enemy from fire. "Fire, huh?" Nanako mused. "Let us know when it wears off! Yukiko, stand by!"

_Let's try elemental attacks first,_ she thought. "Chie, ice it up, and Yosuke, try wind!" Nanako herself prepared to use electricity.

The King swung its scepter before Yosuke could manage to summon his Persona, knocking the boy flat off his feet and into a support pillar. "Yosuke! Get back up!" she scolded while simultaneously invoking Omoikane, but the boy only whimpered and remained on the floor. The electricity grounded itself on the King's crown, but it only stopped him for a second, and then he was swinging his scepter again at Chie. Nanako heard a sickening crunch, but Chie remained standing. In fact, she retaliated by kicking out at the King. "Yeah, Chie! Try and ice it while you kick, maybe!" Nanako suggested, but Chie's face was completely red and she wasn't listening at all.

On the bright side, Chie's next furious kick tripped the King, and it fell backwards. While it was down, Nanako had Yukiko join her in the attack. As Yukiko's fan went sailing by, Nanako wondered at the physics of it and then focused on trying to hack the scepter out of the Shadow's hand with her naginata before it got up again.

The King scrambled to his feet before she succeeded, and then Teddie told her that its Red Wall had worn off. "Yukiko, try fire! Chie, I told you ice, why aren't you listening?"

"Chie's enraged, Boss! She won't listen to anyone like this!"

A large pillar of fire hurtled towards the King, which… laughed? Its mustache twitched like a white worm over its mouth. Yes, it was laughing at them.

"That attack healed it!" Teddie said.

"Oh, you're a bastard," Nanako growled. "Yukiko! Try to get Yosuke—oh shit!"

The king swung its scepter around in a very wide arc. Nanako tried to jump over it, but it ended up catching her legs and sweeping her off her feet. Chie was caught in mid-kick and flung across the room. Nanako scrambled to get up as the King turned its imperious gaze on her.

"Do you still want me to get Yosuke…?" Yukiko asked.

"N-no, heal me, dammit!"

Nanako held up her naginata defensively as the King brought the scepter down on her. When Yukiko's Persona bathed her in its healing light, the King seemed annoyed and turned its body to face her.

"Oh no you don't!" Nanako screamed. "Valkyrie!"

The caped horse-riding Norse woman brought her twin swords down on the King, which shrugged off the attack but was, fortunately, distracted.

"That's right, bitch, it's me you want!" Nanako taunted, acting far more confident than she really was what with half her team down for the count. "Yukiko, get one of them up if you can!"

As the King came forward, she invoked Omoikane for its electric attack, and while the bolt of lightning struck the King, she grabbed the scepter and tried to pull it out of its hand. It was like a tug of war, but to her frustration, she lost and the King punted her painfully to the ground with one of its stupid curly-toed boots. Before she could get up, the King was standing over her, the cross-shaped ornament of the scepter pointing towards her stomach. The Shadow was going to skewer her.

"Archang—" she trailed off into a scream of pain; the King's scepter speared through her arm. Was it toying with her?

No, there was Tomoe, slashing at the King from behind. Chie was back! Her surprise attack had thrown off the King's aim. Nanako would live to see another day.

Well, maybe. Her arm fucking hurt. Of course it was her right arm and she was right-handed. She could hardly pull herself up to her feet, it hurt so much.

Before she could summon Izanami to sing her healing prayer, she was already awash with white light. After it faded, her arm still hurt, but to a lesser extent. "Thanks, Yukiko!" she called.

"Silly Boss," said Teddie in her mind. "That was Yosuke!"

Yosuke's back…? Yes, it seemed Yukiko had been able to bring them both back while Nanako had distracted the Shadow. However, Yukiko wasn't looking so good. She wasn't wounded, but she was holding her head, and Nanako knew that meant she wouldn't be able to keep up healing them. They had to end this soon.

"Yosuke! Stay on guard!" Nanako ordered.

"A-all right!" she heard him call back. "My wind didn't seem to do anything to it, anyway."

"You're on heal duty! Chie! Watch out for that damned scepter!"

The King swung it around again. Yosuke dodged it nimbly, but Chie was flung back. Nanako tried to catch it with her naginata but the force ended up snapping her weapon in half. "Cheap shit!" she swore. "Izanami, go!" The goddess's water attack didn't seem any more effective than the lightning had been.

The scepter was the problem. They had to get it away from him!

She launched herself at the weapon when the King raised it again, but her strength wasn't enough to pull it out of his hands. She didn't let go, hanging on for dear life while he tried to shake her off. He mashed the butt of the scepter on the ground, and the impact made her slide down a few inches, but she held on. An idea came to her. She summoned Omoikane again and tried desperately to aim the lightning to that it'd hit the scepter instead of the crown. It worked, and the King trembled as the electricity traveled through the weapon and singed its hands. Nanako repeated the attack and kicked the King while pulling on the scepter. She hissed as the electricity hurt her, too, but she continued to pull with all her might, and then tried summoning her Persona again to help out. Omoikane obeyed, and with its tentacles also pulling, she was able to wrest the scepter from its hands. She threw it as far across the room as she could manage.

She turned back to the King and grinned wickedly, taunting him. _Whatcha gonna do now?_

He stared for a moment with his beady eyes, and then slapped her hard with his hand.

A crack rang out at the impact, and her nose felt like it'd been smashed in. All Nanako could see was red, an ocean of blood covering her vision. Pain and a sudden, inexorable fury corroded her senses.

She flung herself at the enemy with a primal howl.

* * *

><p>When Nanako came to her senses, it was to a throbbing pain in her right hand. She glanced at it and found that she was gripping the blade to her naginata so tightly that it was cutting deep into the palm of her hand. She blinked muzzily at it, unable to remember when she'd picked it up. It was just the blade—what was left of the haft was a splintery mess.<p>

"What happened...?" she murmured. She looked around, and her teammates seemed to be keeping their distance from her.

"Y-you kind of destroyed that Shadow we were fighting," Yosuke said slowly. "Teddie said you went, ugh, 'bearserk.'"

"The King was dethroned!" the bear commented cheerfully. "By an enraptured Queen Boss!"

"...I think I need to sit down," Yosuke muttered, and he did just that, leaning his back heavily against a column. He was trembling slightly from the adrenaline. "My head's killing me. It was all I could do to keep you healed, Nanako-san. It was like you didn't feel any pain at all when you were attacking it."

"You mean I took it out all by myself in a blind rage?" Nanako asked. "That's... kind of frightening."

"I'll say," Chie piped up. "I wasn't sure which one of you was winning the fight. You were both beating each other pretty badly. We were afraid to help."

"Afraid to get in your way more than anything," Yosuke said sheepishly. "You were pretty determined."

"Must've been, if I was using this," Nanako mused. She tossed the broken naginata blade to the floor and asked Yukiko to heal her hand. She checked her body for wounds, but the healing left her flesh clean and pink, and to her surprise, it didn't seem like there were going to be any scars.

Instead there were plenty of bruises. She poked the one in her forearm left behind by the king's scepter and winced because it was sore already. So, this healing thing had its limits…

"That's definitely enough for today," Nanako said, and the others nodded.

"Boss! The Shadow was hiding something!" Teddie cried. The bear was sniffing around the throne. He produced an elegant-looking fan from behind it. Yukiko gasped in delight and Nanako told her to take it. The spoils of battle... Too bad it hadn't been a new naginata.

Maybe Daidara-san had a return policy?

* * *

><p>[422: Friday]

Nanako wanted to hang out with Yukiko. She knew the pretty princess was a social link that she'd yet to establish. And she wanted to delve into the mind that had produced that castle. Maybe not too deeply… but she suspected Yukiko was important to get to know. Her Persona was just too awesome not to.

However, Yukiko was always hanging out with Chie. Well, Nanako had essentially ordered the kung fu master to guard her, so she should have expected that, but…

The two girls were already gone when school let out. With a resigned sigh, she turned in her desk to Yosuke behind her, who was messing around with his MP3 player, probably trying to find a particular song to play.

"You doing anything?" she asked.

"Oh, actually, I work today..." he replied with a heavy sigh.

"Again?"

"Yeah. A lot of our part-time help make a habit of calling out, so I'm usually stuck making up their shifts. On the bright side, money. On the downside, work."

"Money, yeah," she grumbled mostly to herself. Her aunt gave her an allowance provided by her father, but she'd already used up this week's and wasn't due to receive the next one until Sunday evening. She wanted to appear reliable to her aunt, so asking for the allowance early wasn't an option.

"You could get a part-time job," Yosuke suggested. "There's a board advertising jobs at the central shopping district."

"Me, work?" She made it sound like he'd suggested she kiss him or something. She wrinkled her nose.

"Careful, if you make a face like that, it might stay that way," he teased. "Anyway, I've gotta go. Have a great day, Nanako-san…"

"'At Your Junes,'" she sung to herself as he left the room. Why was that Junes tune so catchy? If felt like it might have meant something to her in another life.

Regardless, she didn't want to work. She wasn't an adult! Only adults slaved away their entire day for a paycheck.

Well, with her entire DEATH Squad away, she didn't have anything to do. She drummed her fingers on the top of her desk, then saw the sports teams' recruitment notice up on the chalkboard. She didn't want to join a team—neither Chie nor Yukiko were on one—and besides she had her own team—but pretending to be interested might earn her some brownie points. She did get a question wrong in class this morning because she had been playing with her hair.

She headed to the faculty office and found Mr. Morooka drinking coffee. It was an interesting sight, him sipping from the cup even with his massive overbite. She'd assumed he'd have to use a straw. He soon spied her. "Dojima! What do you want?" he growled.

"Ehh," she said. _Sports clubs can suck it._ "I was thinking of a Greek myth the other day, but I couldn't remember the name. I was wondering if you could help me?"

"...Are you pulling my leg, young lady?"

He was clearly suspicious of her intentions, so she went on, "It was the myth with the guy and the maze and the ball of string. Kings were probably involved."

"Theseus and the Minotaur, eh? There are several versions of that myth..." He quickly warmed up to the topic. "Queen Pasiphae slept with a bull and then gave birth to the Minotaur, half man and half bull. Her husband, King Minos, had a labyrinth built to house the monster and sent his enemies in there to be eaten by it. Now, the prince went to Athens to participate in one of their many tournaments, and died in it—to the very same bull who'd fathered his half-brother. Infuriated, King Minos ordered King Aegeus of Athens to repay with blood..."

Morooka continued to tell her the entirety of the myth. He was surprisingly animated compared to how he was in class, and he made very few disparaging comments about any of the characters' virtue. It might have been because she was his only audience, or maybe because it was a topic he enjoyed.

"Do you know what the moral of the story is, Dojima?" he asked when he was finished.

"Don't have sex with animals," she replied promptly.

The teacher snorted in his surprise. "You're a straightforward one, aren't you? I'm sure you won't make that mistake." Morooka seemed to be sizing her up.

"No, sir!" Nanako was open-minded about many intimate things, but she drew the line there. Well, now it was time for a serious answer. "One of the morals could be not to make a judgment until you have all the facts. Because the king thought his son was dead just because the flags said so when it was just the captain being an idiot." He seemed to be thinking, so she didn't stop there. "And not to give up, because the maze was dark and confusing and probably had traps and stuff, but Theseus kept going anyway. Not that he had much choice, it was get through it or die, but still."

"Would you say the labyrinth symbolizes the journey through life?" Morooka had a smirk on his face, which she realized was actually his smile.

"Sure, and the string could symbolize spirituality. Like... a sort of guide or anchor to the path." She was stretching it a bit, but... "And leaving the girl asleep on the island symbolizes man's self-destructive nature!"

"Oh, so she likes symbolism, huh?" He chuckled darkly to himself. "You should be careful about that. Everything can be symbolic if you try, and symbolism can be very base. Talk to Freud."

He went on to tell her that, in his understanding, the myth was about mankind's fight against its animalistic nature and its desire to lord over the innocent.

She thanked him for clearing that up for her, and he told her to watch out for bulls. When she made to leave the faculty office, he stopped her. "Wait, Dojima..." He stopped and scowled to himself, then sighed. "I might have another myth to tell you, young lady..."

"If you know a story of a hero brought down by his own hubris, that might be super relevant," she told him, thinking of yesterday's close battle.

"Another day, perhaps," the teacher said. "I gotta grade these damn papers. I swear you brats can't string two words together…"

She blinked as he began to rant because that sound of glass breaking was happening again. _What,_ he's _a Social Link...? The Hierophant..._

She used the time stop to scamper out of the office.

* * *

><p>[423: Saturday]

Speaking of Social Links...

Nanako had a lot of them now, which was... good? She was beginning to wonder how important, exactly, they were. Margaret and Igor had been pretty vague about it, and that voice in her head that spoke when she established one told her it would lead her 'closer' to the truth, but she couldn't see how. All she was doing was being friendly to people.

Her best bet was just to ask, so she went to the shopping district and entered the Velvet Room.

"Hey, Igor," she said, wasting no time. "I'm curious. Why are these social links so important?"

Igor's smile remained as enigmatic as always. "The strength of your bonds reflects the strength of your heart."

"And I want a strong heart because..." Nanako made a gesture with her hand for him to continue.

"When you max a bond, you'll get a super Persona," Marie explained. When Margaret shot her a glance, she said, "What? That's what you said."

"That's enough, Marie," Margaret interrupted, the glance turning into a glare that Marie wilted under. Then the woman turned back to Nanako and smiled grimly. "A strong heart will be required to find, and then face, the truth."

"I suppose that makes sense," Nanako said. The truth could be ugly, and dangerous, too, if the killer found out they were after him. Or her. Nanako would have to be dedicated to the case, no matter what happened. Any help would be welcome indeed.

"By the way," Margaret continued. "Are you visiting, by chance, to take Marie out...?"

"Ah, no," Nanako replied. "I gotta work today. Unless you can give me a discount on some of those Personas?" She eyed the Compendium in the woman's lap.

Margaret's lips tightened in a 'not a chance' gesture.

Nanako shrugged in a 'there you go' gesture.

Marie huffed and looked out the window. "I didn't want to go out there, anyway," she claimed.

"You aren't missing anything," Nanako agreed before leaving the room. "Besides, you've got brandy in here. What else could you ask for?"

* * *

><p>It wasn't that Nanako didn't want to take Marie out—the girl was probably another social link—but that after seeing all the cool new (although not quite 'super') Personas available at the Velvet Room that she couldn't afford to create, it was time to seriously consider a new source of income. Her allowance just wasn't cutting it. She forced herself to to swallow her pride and take a look at the part-time job board that Yosuke had spoken of. She was already at the central shopping district, anyway, and she didn't have to take any of the jobs if she didn't want to.<p>

Folding envelopes. Hahaha, yeah right. Like she had time for that. The boy standing near the board told her it was a job that could be done before going to bed, that it might be nice to help one focus their mind for sleep. Yeah, she supposed a boring job like that would put her to sleep, no problem. She passed on that.

Translator. Nanako's foreign language knowledge was mostly limited to rap music and curse words. And she was sure it wouldn't be translating anything interesting like that, anyway, so she passed on that.

Gas station attendant. Oh, what... the gas station was hiring. Yeah, no. She went on to the next ad.

Nighttime Hospital janitor. No again. Hospitals were bad enough in the daytime, going at night was just asking for trouble. And janitorial work was totally beneath her.

Daycare assistant. Psh, like she wanted to work with little kids all day—wait a sec. Souji went to daycare on Saturdays. Could she... terrorize her little cousin? Well, it might not be the same daycare he went to, but if she didn't like it, she didn't have to keep the job, right? Working one day couldn't hurt.

She wrote the address in her pocket notebook and asked the boy by the board for directions.

* * *

><p>The shock on little Souji's face upon seeing her in the assistant daycare worker's apron was something she would cherish forever.<p>

Before she could say anything to him, though, the other kids crowded around her at the playground and asked her tons of questions, none of them even waiting for her to respond. "What's your name?" "How old are you?" "Do you go to Yasogami High?" "Can I have some candy?" "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"My name's Nanako," she told them, "but you can call me Boss. By the way, I'm from Tokyo and right now I'm living with Sou-chan!"

When some of the kids turned to Souji curiously, the boy made a face like he'd swallowed something rotten. He didn't like the attention.

"Sou-chan! Is she your big sis?" a little girl with braids asked.

"C-cousin..." Souji whispered.

Yeah, that was enough putting the poor kid on the spot. Nanako said, "Yep, he's my adorable little cousin. Oh, but you're all adorable, too! But why don't you all prove it? Let's have a fashion contest!"

She brought forward a plastic crate full of play clothes and watched over the kids while they dressed up in the most hideous combinations of clothing imaginable. Seriously, one little girl put on colors more clashing than her stegosaurus.

"Nice hat," she said to the boy who'd put underwear on his head. The boy giggled.

"We have to dress you up too, Boss!" a little girl declared, and the other children quickly agreed.

"Yeah?" Nanako said. "Sure, go ahead!"

Some time later she was decked out in a yellow sundress, which would have been fine on its own, but they'd had her put on overalls over it and big bulky boots. To top it off, she had on a cowboy hat.

"Dojima-san?" someone called from behind.

"The name's Boss—" she began. "Oh." It was the daycare manager, an older woman with dark hair and an apron who proceeded to inform her that parents were beginning to arrive to collect their children. The manager showed Nanako how to check the children out by matching their parents' name against a list on a clipboard and then left her to it.

One by one the kids were taken away to go home for the day. Nanako had the kids keep on their dress-up clothes until their parent arrived just to see the responses. Some were heartily entertained, but some were noticeably upset by seeing their little boy in a dress, for example. It was kind of frustrating and she worried she might get in trouble with the manager if one of them complained. Well, the daycare seemed like it was hurting for help, so she probably didn't have to worry too much.

Finally, all the kids were gone. She pulled off the boots and cowboy hat with a sigh of relief.

Then paused.

Wait.

What about Souji?

...She'd been having so much fun with the kids that she hadn't even noticed that he hadn't been playing with them. She spied him easily, sitting on the ground with his back to the pole that held up a canopy over the picnic table. He was facing away from her. "Hey, Souji-kun!"

Souji didn't look up. As she approached, she saw that he was watching some sort of bug crawling on his finger. It flew off when she bent down in front of him.

The boy didn't look happy, not that he often did, but he seemed more unhappy than normal. His gray eyes were as stormy as his hair in the light breeze. He was really upset that she'd crashed his daycare, wasn't he?

"Souji-kun... Why didn't you play with your friends?"

He looked off to the side, at the ground. One of his hands picked at the grass.

"You didn't want to play with them?"

He continued to do his best impersonation of a rock.

"Do you want to play with me?" she tried. He looked up at her suddenly in surprise and confusion. "Yeah. Why don't you choose what I should wear next?"

She held her hand out to help him up, and it took him a few long moments to take it, but the fact that he did at all was a relief of its own.

When he tried to let go after he got up to his feet, she gently kept her grip on him, and they walked to the dress-up box together.

"All right, Souji-kun! What do you think I should wear?" He looked at what was in the box, but made no move to go through it, so she went ahead and started picking things out. She put on a bowler hat. "How about this?"

He stared at her. She stared right back. She wasn't going to give in.

The boy broke it by stepping towards her and reaching up. "Huh?" she asked. She handed him the bowler hat, and he put it back in the box. Then he tugged at the overalls the other kids had put her in. Not knowing what he wanted, she sat down on the ground. He pulled the overalls' strap down over her shoulders.

_Souji-kun! You're way too young to be undressing girls!_ she thought, and then she began to laugh. The boy ignored her, and when he began to tug at the sundress, she pushed him away and removed it herself. The boy took the sundress from her, folded it, and put it back in the box.

Then he closed the lid to the box.

Apparently he didn't want to play dress up. Or maybe he preferred her in just her normal Yasogami uniform. Nanako sat on the box and smoothed out her apron. She invited him to sit next to her, and he did, though he left several inches between them. She put her arm around him and pulled him close. "I'm sorry that I didn't play with you," she told him.

His silence was starting to bother her. Hermit child wasn't supposed to be mute, too! "Hey, Souji-kun... If I do something wrong, you've got to tell me. You're family, but I also want to be your friend. We've got to be friends because I'm gonna be here for a whole year."

He looked up at her, and an excruciatingly long moment later said, "I do want to be friends..."

She smiled at him, and it took another long moment, but he smiled shyly back. She had to keep herself from squeezing him too tightly in her happiness. "All right. Now… come along—I need to talk to the manager." _I need to get paid,_ she mentally added. That was the whole point of this job, after all!

She held the boy's hand and they walked together to the main building, where she took off the apron, handed it back to the manager, and received an envelope with her pay for the day. The manager noticed the boy, though. "Oh, Souji-kun's mother isn't here yet? She's as bad as Minami-san sometimes, I swear."

"Huh?" said Nanako. "Souji-kun is my cousin, so I was gonna take him home with me. You mean Aunt Seta picks him up?" She was relieved to hear it.

"Is your name on the emergency list? For liability reasons, we can't let any of the kids go home with just anyone."

"Probably not," Nanako admitted. She'd already handed the clipboard back, so she couldn't check. "It's okay. We'll just wait for Auntie to show up."

Nanako had been expecting to camp out here for the rest of the afternoon, but against all odds, Aunt Seta pulled up in the car just around ten minutes later. She was surprised to see Nanako and remarked how she was a nice young lady to help out at the daycare. _I'm doing it for money, Auntie,_ Nanako thought to herself. _Not because I love kids or plan to have any anytime soon!_

Nanako asked to have her name put on the emergency list so that she could take Souji home if needed. Her aunt seemed excited by that idea, to Nanako's silent rage. Aunt Seta hardly seemed to interact with her own son at all, and passing the buck like this would make the situation that much worse. Nanako was way too young to be taking on the role of surrogate mother.

To her further annoyance, Aunt Seta made her sit in the front, not in the back with Souji. But to her delight, when she glanced back at the boy, he'd put his seatbelt on all by himself—and Nanako had only shown him how that one time! She was very proud of the boy. It informed her, too, that even if he didn't seem like he was listening or paying attention, chances were that he actually was.

Aunt Seta picked up beef bowls at Aiya for dinner, and the three of them ate at the kitchen table together. Aunt Seta asked how Nanako was doing in school, so she talked about her friends and teachers. Nanako wasn't sure her aunt was really listening, but little Souji seemed to be watching her intently, at least.

"How do you like school, Souji-kun?" Nanako asked, trying to involve him in the conversation.

The boy twisted his chopsticks and looked down at the table.

"Answer the question, Souji!" Aunt Seta requested.

"I like school…" he said softly.

"Souji is the top of his class," Aunt Seta said, raising her chin with pride. "He always gets the highest marks in reading and math. He's the brightest boy there. Aren't you, Souji?"

The boy made a sound that sounded vaguely affirmative.

"Speak up," his mother requested. "Use big boy words. You're a big boy, Souji."

"Yes, Mama…"

"He's grown up so fast," Aunt Seta confided in Nanako. "He looks so much like his father, bless his soul…" The woman was positively glowing, and Nanako wasn't quite sure how to react. "Such a sharp boy... He'll become a lawyer or a doctor someday, that much is certain."

Nanako looked at Souji, and it was impossible for her to imagine him as anything but the sad little boy he was right now.

Aunt Seta informed Nanako of her plan to send Souji to a private middle school in another city instead of continuing in the nearby public school system. Nanako didn't blame her too much—the teachers at Yasogami were a bit to be desired. A private school would probably be better in that respect. And... she could imagine that maybe Souji would do better in a new environment... But he still had a few years before middle school, anyway.

"Only the best for my Souji," the woman said. Nanako just smiled indulgently at her. It was awkward to talk about the boy when he was sitting right there.

Aunt Seta went on about the quality of education in public schools—no offense, Nanako-chan—and Nanako began to wonder if she harbored some personal resentment towards public school from personal experience. Nanako was pretty sure her father hadn't gone to private school, which would mean his sister, Aunt Seta, wouldn't have gone to one either...

As the night went on, Nanako wondered if she'd bond with her aunt. On one hand, she hoped the woman wasn't a social link, simply because she didn't want to spend time with her. On the other hand, if she did spend time with her, maybe she could gently nudge her aunt into the right direction, help her come to realize the myriad small injustices she was doing toward her own flesh and blood.

As the evening drew to a close, though, Nanako never heard the telltale sound nor imagined the card that signified a link.

* * *

><p>[AN: So the main reason we kept Saki alive was so that she could be a social link! I didn't have any ideas for how Nanako could bond with Naoki, nor did I really want to write Nanako befriending Ai Ebihara as the Moon link, so, yeah.<p>

But if Saki is the Moon, who will be the Hanged Man? Hmhmhm...

And Morooka is the Hierophant, since Dojima-san, is, well, in Tokyo, hehe. I remember seeing an unfinished Morooka link written somewhere on the kink meme. This version will focus on philosophy, I suppose! It was pretty fun looking up that myth he told.

Whether Aunt Seta will be a link or not is yet to be seen.

Next Chapter: Striking a Chord

Alternative title: Grand Theft Piano

(I couldn't think of a title, but Nanako is not really stealing a piano... haha)


	9. Chapter 9 - Striking a Chord

[Summary: Nanako plays with her cousin, shows off her musical ability, finally hangs out with Yukiko, and discovers why Souji hates Wednesdays.]

* * *

><p>[424: Sunday]

After watching Loveline and Featherman with Souji, Nanako decided she was going to spend the entire day with him. She'd promised they'd be friends, after all. And after yesterday, there was no doubt that he needed the attention. She told him in no uncertain terms that they were going to play.

"B-but laundry…" he protested.

"Laundry, smaundry!" she declared. "Ehh, actually, we do need clean clothes, don't we? After laundry, then!"

When they were done with that, she gently led him away from the apparently mesmerizing sight of the clothes tumbling in the washer and took him upstairs to her room. He hesitated before her door. "I'm not supposed to…"

"Huh? It's my room," she said. "You can come in anytime, Souji-kun. Well, it's polite to ask. It is a girl's room, after all."

When he still hesitated, she pulled him in and set him down on the floor. She handed him the purple rabbit, Chan-chan, from her shelf and took down a couple of other stuffed animals. Sure, he was a boy and was 'supposed to' play with action figures, but she had the feeling he would love to cuddle a plushie. And Chan-chan was about the size of a pillow, perfect for the job.

He was holding the rabbit rather gingerly and with a puzzled look. "This is Chan-chan," she told him. "She's a queen and also my little sister. Her ears are her crown." Nanako tied the rabbit's ears together. "See, a crown. You know what Chan-chan loves the most?"

The boy blinked rapidly at her. She waited for him to realize that she wanted an answer. "C-carrots?" he ventured.

"Gummies, actually," she corrected, "but that's because I like gummies. What she really loooves… is hugs!" Nanako moved forward and swept the boy in a wide embrace, the big plush rabbit caught between them. Souji let out a short yelp of surprise.

After that, she introduced him to the rest of the menagerie and made up some interactions between the animals.

"Someone stole Chan-chan's gummy! Who was it!?" Nanako grabbed an orange fox plush and put the gummy in question under it. "Was it you, Foxie? You're always playing tricks!" She changed the pitch of her voice. "Oh no, of course not! I would never steal from you, my queen! I learned my lesson last time." She informed Souji as an aside that Foxie was always the thief.

She continued to enact a search for the gummy, and eventually the fox was caught red-handed as Nanako pretended to have the animal eat its stolen goods. She turned to Souji, who was still holding up Chan-chan. "Oh, queenie! How shall we punish the thief!?"

"U-umm…" he said. "J-jail?"

"Jail!" Nanako declared. "One week in jail! Foxie, let this be yet another lesson to you," she scolded the plush. She overturned one of her leftover moving boxes and put the animal under it.

She had the animals chat a little more before telling Souji it was time to put them up. She put all of them away except Chan-chan. "You know, I think she wants you to say goodbye to her, Souji-kun."

"Uh, umm... goodbye?" he said weakly.

Nanako lifted up the rabbit's arm to point at him. "That's not what she meant, Sou-chan! Remember what she loves the most?"

His face reddened and he looked down, mumbling. Nanako told him that she was waiting, but if he took too long, maybe Chan-chan would hug someone else. The boy finally stepped forward and hugged the bunny.

Nanako moved around to his back and put her arms around him. "You know what, Sou-chan? I love hugs, too."

* * *

><p>[425: Monday]

Nanako waltzed into the band room and pulled up one of the empty music chairs, casually sat in it, and proceeded to observe the band club meeting. Unfortunately, her entrance had attracted the club captain's attention. He was a dorky-looking guy with glasses who looked more at home in a computer club. "Can I help you? Do you want to join band?"

"Nah, I just wanna watch. Please pretend I'm not here."

To Nanako's further misfortune, since this was the first day that the band club met, they weren't actually going to practice anything together. Instead, each person played a short piece for the captain to show they'd been practicing since last year.

When it was the trombone girl's turn, Nanako covered her ears and swore to herself.

Yeah, not joining this band, she thought. Besides, there wasn't a piano in the room!

She stuck with it until the end, anyway, since she had nothing else to do. When the meeting was dismissed and most of the students filtered out, she stayed behind to ask the club captain if the school had a piano.

"Maybe," he answered. "Matsunaga! Do we have a piano in storage?"

The girl at the back of the room struggling to put her trombone into its case looked up. "Uh, umm, I think we might, but it would be very dusty…"

"Can I see it, anyway?" Nanako asked.

"I'll leave that to you, Matsunaga," said the club captain.

"A-all right!" the girl squeaked.

Nanako tried her damnedest not to judge the girl, but it was easy to see that she was a late bloomer. Her face was rosy and round, like a young child's, and she was a head shorter than Nanako, who was not the tallest of the girls in the DEATH Squad. "I'm Nanako. What's your name?" she said to be polite.

"O-oh, I'm Ayane…" the girl said, her cheeks becoming redder, if it was possible. "It's nice to meet you. You play the piano? Umm, I'm not sure how long it's been since we've had a pianist… But I think we have a piano," the girl continued. "Back here."

Ayane led her into a dark and dusty room that almost gave her second thoughts on entering. The girl turned the light on, revealing shelves full of old and possibly broken instruments. In the back of the graveyard, hidden behind an old tuba, was what could be a piano. Nanako tugged the white cloth with distaste—well, the cloth had once been white, now it was gray with dust—and, well, there was a piano, but...

"U-umm, are you alright, Senpai?"

"You don't treat an expensive musical instrument like this," she muttered. There were dead bugs on the keys!

"Umm, Senpai, are you cry—"

"No!"

Nanako stomped out of the room and searched the halls for slave labor. She found a pair of victims on the second floor.

"Uh, Daisuke?" the tall skinny pretty-boy with purplish hair said. "What did you do to that girl? She looks like she wants you to die in a fire."

"Huh?" The boy named Daisuke turned and flinched at Nanako's expression.

"I'm not mad at you, just the school," Nanako said. "Come on, I need some big strong boys to help me. You're big and strong, right?"

"Sure, he is!" The purplish-haired boy slapped Daisuke on the back. "But I'll help, too, if you need it."

Two boys might not be enough, she thought. She called Yosuke on her cell phone. "You! Are you still at school?"

"What the hell is with that ringtone!?" Yosuke shouted back, sounding frazzled.

"What, you don't like 2Pac? I'm disappointed in you. Seriously, are you still at school? I need you."

"I'm not," he said, "but, umm, you need me? What's this about?"

"Just come to school," she ordered. "I'll be at the music room!" She hung up before he could say anything more. "You," she said, looking at the two boys in front of her. "You're coming with me."

* * *

><p>Some time later, Nanako and the three boys were struggling to get the heavy piano out of the storage room. The fact that it had casters didn't change the fact that it weighed what felt like half a ton. "You're buying us drinks after this, right Nanako-san?" Yosuke panted.<p>

"I could totally go for a TaP right now," Daisuke agreed.

"C-come on," Nanako said, stopping for a second to wipe the sweat from her eyes and only managing to smear dust all over her face instead. "You're doing it so you can brag to your bros about how you helped out a poor, helpless, and very cute girl with your _manly_ strength."

"Umm," said Yosuke. "But I'd still like a drink."

"There's a water fountain over there." She pointed it out with a twist of her head.

"Denied, Hanamura!" said the purple-haired boy, whom she'd discovered was named Kou. He was on the basketball team.

The piano was halfway down the hall when Morooka caught them and demanded to know what the hell she was doing, apparently knowing implicitly that she was the leader of this operation. She retorted that obviously she planned to have a foursome with the boys on top of the piano. He just sort of spluttered at her and then shook his head and left.

"I never know what's going to come out of your mouth next, Nanako-san," Yosuke commented.

"Shut up and push!" she ordered.

Ayane stood up from her chair in the music room when Nanako kicked open the door. The underclassman was surprised to see them pushing the piano but obligingly volunteered to hold open the door for them and then hovered around when they pushed it towards a corner of the room, quickly moving music stands and chairs out of the way.

"H-here, stop, that's perfect," Nanako said. The four of them took a moment to catch their breaths. They were all filthy from the exertion and the dust caking the piano. "Thank you very much. Sorry that your clothes got all dirty." _But some sacrifices have to be made,_ she added in her mind. Her own uniform jacket was wrecked, too.

"It's just our P.E. clothes anyway," Kou said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Nanako said. "It was why I picked you guys out of the crowd. I'm pretty sure that guy in glasses walking around up there would look down his nose at me if I suggested he get his hands dirty."

"What about me?" said Yosuke. "This is my favorite shirt!" It was an orange and white V-neck that now had several streaks of gray through it. These dust stains couldn't pass as part of its design.

"Sucks," she said. "Anyway, thank you again!" She smiled as dazzlingly as she could manage, and when the two sports-minded boys left, she let it drop into a broody scowl.

"Nanako-senpai," Ayane said meekly. "Are you going to join the band?"

_No,_ she thought. "Maybe," she said. "Depends on if this thing works."

"You don't know if it works? Maybe you could have done that, umm, before we moved it?" Yosuke said somewhat reproachfully.

"I couldn't have tried to fix it in that dark storage room," Nanako said while she inspected the piano a little more closely. "They didn't even have the fall board over the keys…" she muttered to herself. She opened the lid, ready to cringe at what she might find, but fortunately there were no dead animals inside. Just ever more dust. Oh, and maybe some spiders…

With a sigh she turned to Ayane and Yosuke, thanked them, and told them they could leave. Ayane told her to let her know if she wanted to officially join the band, and then picked up her trombone case—which was almost as big as her, really—and left.

Yosuke, however, stayed behind. "You play the piano?"

"Not as well as my mom, of course, but yeah," she answered, preoccupied. "One moment." She left the room and entered the nearest janitorial office to 'borrow' some cleaning supplies. She returned to the shabby piano and began to clean it off, first sweeping off the dead bugs on the keys with a bristle brush and then dusting off the handprints on the lid and frame leftover from their rough handling of it. She dampened a rag and wiped down the keys, careful not to let water drip between them and drying them with a second rag, then cleaned out the filthy washcloth in the bucket and went over them again a little more thoroughly. Hmm, she'd have to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste to remove the yellowing…

"Umm... You want some help?" Yosuke was standing there watching.

Too focused on what she was doing, she didn't reply, until Yosuke called her name. "Hmm? Sorry. You're still here? I said you could go."

"I want to know if it works," Yosuke said. He shrugged. "I don't mind helping you clean it out."

She declined. Someone inexperienced could do more harm than good. Really, the inside shouldn't be touched by anyone but a professional piano cleaner, which Nanako herself was not, in all honesty…

Eventually the piano was in presentable condition, or as well as it was going to be for today. Nanako hadn't found a bench in the storage room, so she just pulled up one of the music chairs. There hadn't been any sheet music, either, so she decided to play a simple piece she knew by heart: _Sakura._

It was a short piece, but her playing was ruined by a key sticking half-way through. She sighed heavily at it. There were so many different reasons a key could stick, and a screwdriver was not one of the things she'd stolen from the janitor's office.

"Huh, you really can play," Yosuke remarked. She glanced at him sharply, but he looked impressed. "Too bad this thing is a hunk of junk, huh?"

"Yeah. Too bad pianos are so expensive. I miss having one around."

"You played it a lot?"

Nanako nodded. "I'll have to manage with this until I go home, I guess." She pressed a few keys to test them. A couple more were stuck, too, and some others didn't have the right sound to them.

"You should join the band," Yosuke said suddenly, in the middle of her toying with one of the stuck keys. "You can only improve the sound." He chuckled dryly.

"I don't know. I prefer to play solo. But I don't know if they'll let me play this," – she patted the piano – "if I'm not officially in, so… we'll have to see." She pulled down the fall board to cover the keys and then took to her feet. "Let's go home and get cleaned up. We've been at school way too long for a Monday!"

"It's your fault I'm still here," Yosuke noted. He sighed. "Oh well."

They walked out together and talked about music. Yosuke said that he'd been given an acoustic guitar for his birthday some years ago, but he hadn't played it recently. She told him he should start it up again, and he seemed to warm to the idea until she stipulated that she didn't want to hear him practice.

* * *

><p>[426: Tuesday]

Nanako's problem with being unable to hang out with Yukiko solved itself; while she was thinking about visiting the music room again and seeing if she could work on the piano, the demure raven-haired girl came up to her desk and asked if she was busy after school.

"Huh? No, why? You wanna go in the TV?" Nanako asked. They probably should. It had been almost a week, and she didn't want all her newly built muscles to atrophy from lack of use, nor her team to get rusty.

"I was hoping we could go out," Yukiko said.

Go out...? Nanako swiftly glanced around the classroom. Chie was nowhere in sight. "Sure! What do you want to do?"

Yukiko led her to the shrine in the central shopping district. The princess solemnly walked to the offertory box, prayed, and dropped in a small donation. Nanako didn't follow suit; she wasn't a religious person—with her expansive worldview, she really couldn't be more than a deist, if even that—really, she would have no truck with gods even if they did exist.

They sat down together on the steps before the offertory box. "I heard a wild animal lives around here," Yukiko commented, looking around.

"Wild as in dangerous? If it comes out, I'll bop it good," Nanako replied. "Or make it join the DEATH Squad."

"Where did you come up with that name?" Yukiko asked. She began to giggle. Her whole body shook uncontrollably, but she was able to contain it. "DEATH Squad...!"

"Umm, Yukiko, death squads are an actual thing. You prooobably don't want to look into it." Or maybe she would. Hell's Castle... "But we're only genociding Shadows, so it's okay. We're good guys."

"We really are," Yukiko said. "You saved me!"

"You saved yourself, actually. Accepting your Shadow, that's awesome. If only Yosuke could've accepted his, then his Persona would be stronger and we would have two awesome healers. Unfortunately he didn't, so you, or maybe I, will have to pick up his slack."

Yukiko sighed suddenly. "You get along so well with him... I'm a little jealous."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Nanako stared at her. Jealousy... in regards to Yosuke? It did not compute. _I thought you had Chie, but you really want Yosuke?_ Nanako wondered if she had a love triangle or maybe even quadrangle forming on her hands and her ever-spinning mind further wondered if she could turn it into something raunchier.

"Both you and Chie get along so well with boys," Yukiko explained. "I'm afraid to talk to them. I don't think I'd have anything to say."

"You wanna talk... to boys?" Nanako made it sound like Yukiko was speaking a foreign language. "Do you have a particular one in mind or something?"

"No, but... I'd still like to be able to talk to one on my own. The only time they come to talk to me is to ask me out, and then Chie makes them leave."

"Chie is a problem," Nanako admitted, "but there's really nothing to it. Just talk to them like you'd talk to anyone. And when their eyes start wandering to your chest, you punch them, and then you go talk to a girl instead because girls are better anyway." _And then you can look at their chest if you want and it's okay because you're also a girl. Heh._

"I wish I had your confidence," Yukiko said demurely.

"You're looking for a friend, not a boyfriend, right?" Nanako chewed her lower lip while she thought. She didn't actually know many boys their age by name. Yosuke, Daisuke, and Kou, and she'd only met the latter two yesterday and didn't know them very well. "You could probably hang out with Yosuke? Since he's on the team and all, you sorta already know him. You even have his phone number. Just make sure to let him know that you aren't interested in him. He doesn't need another Saki on his hands."

"I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Yeah, I can't even think of what you two would have in common, anyway. 'Living in Inaba' and 'Same class at school' can only get you so far. Hey, it was just an idea! Maybe I'll come up with something better after I've thought about it more."

Nanako proceeded to immediately think about it more even though she'd planned to change the subject. _Maybe you can talk to my little cousin. Though it'd definitely be 'talk to,' not 'with' and he is ten years younger..._ How cute that would be! Yukiko was shy around boys, Souji was shy around everyone and everything...

"Nanako? You've a strange look on your face."

"Huh? Uh, yeah, sorry, was thinking about something. You could also join an after-school club, maybe. There are boys there. Say, do you play an instrument?"

"I always wanted to learn how to cook," Yukiko confided. "Is there a club for that? But with the inn, I don't have much time."

"If there isn't, make one!" Nanako told her. "It can't be that hard. Hell, maybe I'd join so I can cook more than ramen."

Yukiko smiled at her.

_Priestess, huh?_ Nanako thought as that mysterious voice indicating a social link spoke in her head. The card seemed to depict a witch's hat with a mask and a crescent moon in the corner. _I can see that._

"I'll consider both of your ideas," Yukiko said. "But I should get home. I planned to study tonight. We have exams after Golden Week, you know."

"We do? What the hell did we learn...?"

Yukiko began to laugh. It started slow, as just a chuckle, and then built up into a laughing fit so strong that a stand-up comedian might kill to see it. "N-Nanako!" she gasped. "That's exactly how Chie reacted this morning!"

Nanako sighed and canceled her plans to make everyone go training this week because she obviously needed to do some studying. _The Midnight Channel better not air anytime soon,_ she thought...

* * *

><p>[427: Wednesday]

Aunt Seta had caught Nanako studying last night and had promised her a monetary reward if she did well, so Nanako was going to spend the afternoon studying. Maybe tonight she'd reward herself for her diligence with some shitty TV in her room before bed.

Yukiko had suggested she use the library—that's where she and Chie sometimes studied together—but Nanako decided that home was quieter and had the added bonus of Souji. She set up her math notebook opposite the boy at the tea table while he busied himself with his own cram school work.

They'd been at it for some time when Souji interrupted their peaceful silence by muttering to himself, "Mom's not home yet..."

Nanako checked the time on her phone. It was still pretty early. She didn't expect her aunt to be home anytime soon and wondered why the boy did.

"She's supposed to make dinner today," he went on.

"She can cook?" Nanako asked, surprised. She'd never experienced anything but takeout so far in this house... Besides that, what made this day different?

"It's a Wednesday," Souji explained, but he didn't elaborate. Nanako was further puzzled by this because Wednesday was nothing special. It hadn't been special last week—Aunt Seta had definitely worked late that night and even more definitely hadn't cooked—and Golden Week was next week.

The boy looked tense for some reason and Nanako couldn't understand why. "Why does it matter that it's Wednesday?"

"Not every Wednesday," he said, "but sometimes... This is one..."

"Souji-kun, I don't understand at all," she told him outright.

He apparently didn't care to explain further.

"Well," she said, "if your mom is supposed to make dinner, I could make it instead. If ramen is okay, 'cause that's pretty much all I know. Or maybe a stir-fry."

The boy's face brightened and he seemed to cheer up at the prospect of cooking. "Can I help...?"

Since the mental image of a six-year-old stir-frying couldn't work out in her brain, she decided to go with ramen. She put him on noodle-boiling duty while she cooked some beef and veggies in a skillet.

The soup was practically done when there was a knock on the door. Souji stiffened at the sound. Nanako frowned to herself. If it was her aunt, she'd have a key. "I'll get it," she told him. He nodded quickly, eagerly, even, which gave her the impression that he was relieved.

She paused at the door, though, even as the knock repeated. Nanako hadn't been on the TV news, nor had she been on the Midnight Channel—she trusted Yosuke to be diligent about checking both, and besides it hadn't rained in a while—so it probably wasn't the killer, but... "Who is it?" she called.

"It's, uhh, me," came the reply. "Who else would it be?"

Muffled by the door, she couldn't really tell who it was by the voice alone. She opened the door with one eye closed just in case...

Standing there casually on the doorstop with his hands in his pockets was the red tie detective. "Adachi-san...?" she said. "Uh, hello."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you were living here," Adachi said. He scratched the back of his neck. "...Is your aunt in?"

"No. She's not."

His eyes widened. "O-oh... Huh."

A very awkward silence followed. Nanako's mind whirled. Adachi expected Aunt Seta to be home. Souji had been nervous earlier, and now it was quite obvious that he'd known Adachi was coming over. Aunt Seta was supposed to make dinner. Dinner... for Adachi!?

T-too much info, really...

Adachi checked his phone and then closed it with a snap. "Well, what do you know... she told me not to visit tonight. My mistake! Have a good evening!" He began to slink away into the encroaching evening darkness.

"Wait!" Nanako called. He paused in his retreat. "You're hungry, right?"

"Err..."

"I made dinner," she said. "I owe you, anyway. I never did get you those cabbages. Well, it's just ramen, but, yeah."

Adachi blinked. "Ramen, huh? Well... Sure, if you insist." The corner of his mouth turned up. "Better than anything I was gonna make."

She ushered him into the house and set him down at the kitchen table. She served out three bowls of the ramen soup and put one in front of him. He inhaled the scent, and to her delight—it had been a while since she'd cooked, after all—he seemed excited about eating it.

But someone was missing from the equation. After handing the detective a pair of chopsticks, she frowned and called out for Souji, but the boy didn't answer, and at a glance he wasn't anywhere in sight. Huh, where the heck did he go? She noticed the door to his room was closed and suspected he was closeted in there. "Souji-kun!" she said sourly. "Come on out!"

"Eh, it's okay," Adachi said from the kitchen table, waving the chopsticks at her. "Leave the kid alone."

"He needs to eat dinner, too!" Nanako protested, her hand on the doorknob.

"He's prooobably not hungry." Adachi poked at the soup in front of him.

_Well, fine, I'm not going to let it stop_ me _from eating!_ she thought. She returned to the kitchen table to do just that.

There was silence while they ate, and then Adachi commented, "He doesn't like me."

"Maybe you should wear different clothes when you visit," Nanako suggested. "You might be reminding him of his dad."

Adachi looked down at his scruffy detective's suit. "Huh, I never thought about that. You know, it might even be just the tie. His dad gave it to me, after all. He had a thing against patterned ties, heh. It was solid colors or bust with him." He ran his fingers down the tie, leaving it more crooked than it already was.

Thankfully, the nostalgia concerning his old partner didn't seem to set him off in any way. Nanako wondered if she could ask about him... maybe get some insight into why—

"Ehh, well, thank you for the meal, Nanako-kun," Adachi said, interrupting her thoughts. He pushed the finished bowl away. "I should probably get going now. And let Souji-kun come out of hiding, heh."

_No,_ Nanako thought. _I haven't yet grilled you for info on the case!_ "Won't you stay and chat?" she said. "I'm sure you have some interesting stories to tell!" He seemed reluctant, so she added, "Come on, it's not like you had any other plans for the night."

His expression flattened, but then he burst out laughing. "Yeah, you got me there..."

They moved to the living room, where she sat across from him at the tea table. Nanako shoved her open math notebook to the side to clear it.

"I don't miss that," he said with amusement.

"Yeah..." Nanako sighed. "I got exams the week after Golden Week. Like hell I'm gonna study during the holidays."

"Holidays? What holidays?" He chuckled darkly.

"Crime never takes a holiday," she said, shaking her head, understanding him implicitly through her experiences with her father.

Adachi sighed heavily. "I could use a vacation, too."

"They're running you ragged, huh?" she said. "Must be rough."

"Tell me about it. No witnesses to the murders because the rain and the fog, and the ME's got no COD for either of them. It's a mess. And the two prime suspects have solid alibis."

Nanako perked up despite her effort to control her curiosity. "Suspects?"

"Taro Namatame and his ex-wife. I've got my eye on that guy—he lives around here—but an alibi's an alibi, and his is preeetty strong. He was at the Shiroku pub that night and the old lady vouches for him, and so do a couple of other patrons. The ex-wife, now, she was on a tour, and nowhere near Inaba. We looked into other family, too, but it was drier than a well in a desert."

She didn't envy the detective his position. When the culprit was killing through supernatural means, the normal police weren't going to find the solution. And every day without progress made it less and less likely that they'd find said culprit.

Dammit, she hadn't made any real progress, either, even knowing the true cause of death...

"Good luck, man," she finally said.

He let out his breath in a snort. "Yeah, thanks. Well, I'm not alone. My superiors are scrambling, too, you should see them! Always trying to see who can shout the loudest."

A silence elapsed as Adachi seemed out of things to say about the case, and Nanako had basically run out of questions. So she asked instead, "By the way, what did you do with all that paperwork on my dumb friend? The one who got arrested at Junes."

"Oh, that...? Heh, this is what I did." Adachi took out a lighter from his pocket and set it down on the center of the tea table.

"You _burned_ it?"

"Well, paper shredder, actually, but same thing, right?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "They had him down for threatening an officer and resisting arrest. That's pretty heavy stuff for a sixteen year old to have on his record."

"Yeah..." she said slowly. "Thanks again."

Adachi waved it off. "I bet you made sure that kid learned his lesson. Is he under your thrall now...?" His eyes narrowed and he seemed very interested in the answer.

"Don't worry. I treat him well." When his eyes narrowed further, she added, "I just made him buy me a soda, really."

"Only a soda?"

"And I drank his when he wasn't looking," she admitted.

He chuckled, and Nanako noted how different his chuckle was from his laughter. The chuckle was a low rumble that didn't sound like he was all that amused, but his laughter earlier had felt true and was catching.

She blinked as the card formed in her mind's eye. It had a red and white background and held a silhouette of a balance shaped like a sword. There was something strange about it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

_Justice,_ the voice told her. Well, it made sense that a cop would represent Justice, right?

Nanako thought fast on what she could do during the time stop and settled with nicking his lighter. He'd left it right there, anyway, so she simply couldn't resist.

As if realizing his work was done after that link was established, Adachi said that it was probably time for him to leave. "Let you get back to studying, and I'm sure Souji-kun is hungry..."

She saw him out and ensured that he locked the door behind him—he did—and then knocked on Souji's door and informed him that Adachi was gone. "I'll heat up some of the ramen for you, okay?"

A long moment later, the boy opened the door, but he stayed by it, looking sheepish. She told him to sit at the table and put the bowl before him when it was ready. She didn't ask about his problem with Adachi, and he didn't volunteer the information.

Nanako was doing the dishes when Aunt Seta arrived, so there was essentially no evidence that the detective had been at the house. Except for, well, the lighter, but that was already safely stashed in her room. Nanako wasn't sure why she wanted to keep it a secret that Adachi had been over, except that it would be awkward to explain. 'You were supposed to cook dinner for him, what is up with that, anyway?' Her aunt was someone she still hadn't quite got a read on.

The rest of the night was rather quiet. Souji said absolutely nothing, but that was to be expected, and Aunt Seta seemed to be in a sour mood. She kept checking her phone and scowling at it. Nanako supposed she might be upset that she'd had to cancel the dinner date.

When Nanako retired to her room, she inspected the lighter more closely. It was an expensive one of the flip-top variety made of stainless steel. A stylized dragon was engraved on it. She'd have to return it. There wasn't any lighter fluid in it, and Adachi hadn't smelled like cigarettes. Maybe he didn't smoke? Then why did he carry around a lighter...?

She ran her fingers all over it and discovered an etching on the bottom. She read the name...

_Sachio Seta_

...and felt ill.

She was a terrible person to steal her dead uncle's lighter like that, wasn't she?

* * *

><p>[AN: That's right. In the Nanako-verse, Tohru Adachi is Justice instead of Jester. Losing his partner on the force might have changed his outlook on life. Might have.<p>

Souji's parents don't have canon names, so I had to come up with them myself: Sachio Seta was his dad, and Ryoko Seta is his mom.

In the epilogue to Persona 4 Golden, little 7-year-old Nanako is taking piano lessons, so that's why we decided that she can play the piano. And with Chisato Dojima alive, it's not hard to believe she would've been taught to play it.

We toyed with the idea of having the shrine fox join them in the TV World just like it does in the game, but, eh, I don't think it adds to the story at all, so we probably won't be seeing it. I don't see Nanako taking on ema requests, do you? And we're not going to make a cooking club. That's way too domestic, hehe.

Someone requested a list of social links and their arcana, so here you go!

Established  
>Chariot – Chie<br>Hermit – Souji  
>Hierophant – Morooka<br>Justice – Adachi  
>Magician – Yosuke<br>Moon – Saki  
>Priestess – Yukiko<p>

Not established (yet)  
>Aeon<br>Death  
>Devil<br>Emperor  
>Empress<br>Fortune  
>Hanged Man<br>Lovers  
>Star<br>Strength  
>Sun<br>Temperance  
>Tower<p>

The Investigation Team's arcana are going to be the same as in the canon. Their links will be different in content instead.

And I'll be honest and admit that I don't have any ideas or plans for Devil or Tower at the moment.

Next Chapter: Golden Three Days

Why is it called 'Golden Week' when it's only a few days?]


	10. Chapter 10 - Golden Three Days

[Summary: Margaret makes a request, the DEATH Squad bond over studying for their exams, and Nanako spends the long holiday with a certain family member.]

* * *

><p>[429: Friday]

By Friday, Nanako was sick of studying. Since it was raining, she made the squad go in the TV for training, although Teddie hadn't sensed anything interesting. The Shadows were apparently more active when it rained, possibly in anticipation of the fog lifting in the TV World, but there wasn't a large one like the Contrarian King around to deal with.

Nanako visited the Velvet Room as soon as she landed on the backlot, and though she planned to be conservative with her money, Igor informed her that his assistant had a task for her.

"Yeah?" Nanako looked at Margaret. "Whatcha want, Margie?"

"First, _do not_ call me that." Margaret looked like a viper ready to strike, or a thunderhead about to spout electricity. Nanako cowered despite herself. There was something about that woman…! "Your soul is of interest to me. I would like to see you continue to develop your other selves, and so I will occasionally make requests of you. Show me what you are capable of."

_My_ soul _interests you?_ Did she want to eat it or something? Though, more importantly, "Wait, souls are real?"

"'Course they are," said Marie from the corner, looking at Nanako like she was stupid or something.

Nanako ignored her. "Is Igor interested in my soul, too?" She turned starry eyes on the long-nosed man, but all Igor did was continue to smile at her.

"First, I would like to see… hmm…" Margaret stopped to think. "A Vetala with… Silence Boost. As my first task, it should not be a difficult undertaking."

"Uhh, right," said Nanako, who had no idea what a Vetala was, nor had she ever seen a Persona with Silence Boost. "Can I get a hint?"

Margaret sighed as if it killed her to help. "One of the requisite Personas is of the Fool arcana. It is currently in the Compendium, but at an insufficient level."

Nanako was reminded of something that bothered her. "Hey, I was wondering why my DEATH Squad social link is the Fool arcana. Is it some sort of cosmic joke at our expense or something? Because I could be offended."

"The Fool is the one whose story is being told," Igor said. "It represents the start of a journey."

"And also shows that there is room for growth," Margaret added. "In fact, your own Arcana is that of the Fool."

The woman was looking down on her, Nanako could tell. Hmph, Fool or not, she'd show that cougar! "Well, then, show me what Fools I have in the Compendium and we'll go from there."

* * *

><p>The Shadows were noticeably larger due to the rain, but they weren't anything the squad couldn't handle. Nanako focused on training the Persona Obariyon, which was an orange, goblin-like demon with a purple bowl-cut that reminded her of her cousin. It enjoyed jumping on enemies' backs and clawing at them. It was rather amusing to watch it wrestle on top of the paper mache fish-dolphins in Yukiko's Castle.<p>

Yosuke asked her why she kept using that Persona over and over, and she just told everyone that she had her reasons.

After it clawed up the moss-baby Shadow summoned by a king-shaped Shadow that gave them flashbacks to the Contrarian King, the Obariyon finally learned Silence Boost, and Nanako called it a day.

* * *

><p>"Ah," Margaret said appreciatively after Nanako returned to the Velvet Room and fused the requested Persona. It turned out to be a muscular humanoid with blue skin and a tusked elephant's head, including a long trunk. "A Vetala with Silence Boost. That wasn't so difficult, was it? Does it remind you of someone...?"<p>

To her credit, Margaret didn't look at Igor, although Marie certainly did. The long-nosed man himself didn't comment.

Nanako didn't understand the significance of the Silence Boost. It wasn't a useful skill, in her opinion. She preferred killing Shadows to debilitating them. Margaret was now giving Marie a sharp look, however... Maybe the Silence Boost was related to her?

"Good job, anyway..."

The tinkle of glass sounded in Nanako's mind, which she hadn't unexpected because she'd always thought that the Velvet Room was attached in some way to her mind, considering she'd been called here in her sleep before. She listened for an echo but there wasn't one.

She used the time stop to try and pour herself some brandy, but before she could even touch the decanter something punched her in the face, and the force of the blow bowled her backward and out of the Velvet Room.

She tumbled onto the TV backlot, cursing with enough ferocity to blacken ears.

"Whoa, Nanako, are you okay?" Chie gasped.

Yosuke unsheathed his knives and looked around. "What did that?"

Nanako laughed without humor as she stood up. "My own hubris. Don't worry."

Apparently the Velvet Room residents didn't experience the time stop. She'd been kicked out so fast that she hadn't even heard what arcana Margaret belonged to.

The Bitch Arcana, probably.

"Yeah, bitch," she repeated under her breath. She rubbed her jaw and hoped the bruise wouldn't grow noticeably large.

* * *

><p>[430: Saturday]

According to Yosuke, the Midnight Channel had turned on last night, but it hadn't shown anything. Just a blank screen.

"We're not getting anywhere, are we?" he commented, walking with her on the way to school. "I mean, defeating the Shadows is cool and all, but we're still no closer to finding the culprit."

"I know!" Nanako grumbled. "We need more clues. Who hated Mayumi Yamano? Maybe someone at the local news station, upset that she was forced to resign? Dunno, the scandal totally upped the station's ratings. And why the hell did they target Yukiko? I know Yamano was staying at the Amagi Inn, but that doesn't feel like a connection at all."

"Yeah, I don't get it either. I hate to say it, but maybe we have to wait for the culprit to strike again…"

"Unless they're done. Then it'll just be an unsolved mystery and Teddie's stupid world will just have to suffer."

He looked at her with concern. "You sound like you're about to give up!"

"None of this makes any damned sense!_ There's a world behind the television!_" She took a few deep breaths. "Sorry, Yosuke-kun, I just had to let that out. I'm a detective's daughter. I'll figure out this damned mystery if it's the last thing I do!"

For some reason, Nanako felt a chill upon saying that, and the Velvet Room key felt warm in her pocket.

"I-I'm with you, too!" Yosuke said. "I can't let the culprit get away with this."

"Yeah! We'll do it, or I'm not the Boss!" Nanako put on her glittery TV World glasses for added effect and strode into school.

* * *

><p>Despite her posturing, Nanako was still feeling melancholy by the time school let out. It had been two weeks now since Yukiko's kidnapping. It hadn't rained much recently, that much was true, so perhaps the killer was just biding his or her time…<p>

She wasn't feeling up to working at the daycare. She wanted to be bright and cheerful for Souji instead of mirroring his own state of mind.

Instead, then, she wandered around the central shopping district since she never did get around to seeing everything it had to offer. There was a bookstore, and Nanako entered to ask when the next Loveline manga was due out. She paused before the Velvet Room door, but her jaw was sore from yesterday, so she just gave it the middle finger while she walked by it. She also avoided Daidara's and passed a tofu shop.

Ah, so that's where Aiya was! If their ramen was so good, their beef bowl had to be, too. In fact, Nanako found Chie inside, chowing down, so she joined her. "You should come on a rainy day, Nanako!" the girl said through a mouthful of beef. "For the Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. I've won it twice!"

"Aiyah!" exclaimed the restaurant's owner. "She is my best customer!"

"Hehehe." Chie scratched her head in awkward pride.

Nanako ordered a bowl, and while waiting for it to come out, Chie told her about the different garnishes one could ask for in the Aiya beef bowl. Garlic, hot sauce, ginger, sesame, Vietnamese-style, Korean-style…

"Original style is the best, though!" Chie said, pointing with her chopsticks at the bowl the owner had just placed in front of Nanako. It was steaming and smelled so much better than the ramen she'd made on Wednesday. "Now I want another!"

"You still have to finish yours," Nanako pointed out.

"I could eat three bowls!" Chie claimed. "Well, maybe not, haha, but I'd sure give it a try!"

Chie's enthusiasm for meat was catching. Nanako enjoyed the myriad subtle flavors in the beef bowl as the girl pointed them out. At the same time, there was just too much meat! Nanako wasn't sure she could finish it.

"It's good, right?" Chie was grinning at her.

"Damn right!" Nanako declared.

Time stopped. _What, really?_ Nanako thought. She rolled her eyes and quickly dumped most of the rest of her beef into Chie's bowl. _Go, go, Chariot rank up!_

"Look, I finished it!" Nanako said when time resumed.

Chie was so happy for her that she didn't realize her own beef had magically multiplied. "I gotta finish mine now!" Nanako watched her shovel in the rest and shook her head wryly.

* * *

><p>That evening, Nanako watched the news with Aunt Seta. Nothing of interest was showing—just a segment on the hottest vacation destinations for Golden Week—but it reminded her to ask her aunt what the plans were for the upcoming holiday.<p>

Her aunt's red lips turned downward. "Ah, I have a business trip then. I'll have to go to Okinawa for the week."

_Thanks for telling me ahead of time, dear aunt!_ "What about Souji-kun?" Nanako protested. "I think we should have a family vacation sometime. I haven't had much opportunity to get to know you, Aunt Seta!"

"He's a big boy," Aunt Seta said. "And we have all year, Nanako-chan. There will be plenty of time." She smiled at Nanako, and Nanako knew there wouldn't be any time at all. Watching the news together once or twice a week hardly counted as bonding time.

No wonder the woman wasn't a social link.

* * *

><p>[502: Monday]

Yukiko, diligent student that she was, suggested after school that they form a study group—not because she needed it, but because she was going to be studying with Chie anyway. "What do you think, Yosuke?" Nanako asked. "I bet you haven't studied."

"If only the test was Shadow Slaying 101," Yosuke muttered. "Teddie could write the test for us."

"Nah, if he did, he would put evil questions," said Nanako, "like, I dunno, something where the answer is a bear joke. 'What bug-shaped Shadow have we been defeating at the castle?' 'The Bear-ning Beetle.'"

"I don't think Teddie has ever used that one," Chie observed. "Surprising, huh?"

"Maybe I should copyright it!" Nanako shot her a grin.

"The library is going to be full because of the rain," Yukiko noted. "We probably wouldn't be able to find four seats together."

"Why not Junes?" Chie suggested. "They have plenty of tables, and then we can snack out on steak!"

"I'm not paying," Yosuke said. His arms were determinedly crossed. "I'm not. Don't try and make me."

Chie made a comment about broken DVDs, which Nanako followed up with a comment on broken balls, and then Yosuke said that maybe he simply wouldn't study with them after all.

* * *

><p>Fortunately the rain let up by the time they reached Junes, though they had to wipe the table dry before they could put their schoolwork on it. They spent the afternoon studying, but the only one who stayed focused the whole time was Yukiko. Whenever Nanako got bored she began to kick Yosuke under the table until he'd scooted himself rather far away from the group to avoid her. It was pretty funny when Chie asked what the heck he was doing, although Nanako was forced to apologize when he pointed her out as the culprit.<p>

"Man, I hate school," Nanako muttered. "When are we ever gonna need to know how someone translated 'I love you' into Japanese? Maybe if it was more practical information..."

"What, like how to boss people around?" Yosuke's tone was sour; he was probably still nursing his sore shins.

Nanako laughed. "I could teach that class, honey!"

"Maybe a money sense class would be nice, huh?" Yosuke retorted teasingly.

Nanako scowled at him for being right, though she'd been pretty good with her money recently. She'd received her weekly allowance last night, anyway! Of course, she'd probably spend it all the next time she visited Daidara's or the Velvet Room...

"'The moon is beautiful, isn't it?'" said Yukiko.

Nanako looked at her. "The moon's not even out!"

"Umm, Nanako, that's what we're studying," said Chie. "She's trying to get us back on topic. That's one of the translations for 'I love you.'"

Yosuke snickered. Man, his snicker was annoying. Nanako kicked him in the shin again for good measure and he stopped with a yelp. He glared at her, and she just smiled serenely at him.

"So, umm, what was the translation that Shimei Futabatei used instead?" Yukiko asked.

No one answered, and thunder rolled in the distance.

"It was, 'I could die,'" Yukiko said helpfully, her tone a tad desperate.

"I agree," Nanako said, closing her notebook with finality.

* * *

><p>[503: Tuesday]

Golden Week began today. It really wasn't a whole week off, only... half a week, but Nanako supposed 'Golden Half-week' didn't have the same appeal. Still, she'd spent both Sunday and Monday studying like a good girl—_retch!_—and it was time to relax!

It was Constitution Day, and Yosuke called to hang out. Nanako declined because she wanted to spend the holiday with Souji. It might be fun to force Yosuke to play with Souji, but not now.

She brought her stuffed animals to the living room and played with him. It took Souji a while to get into it—he seemed to be worried about making the animals do or say something wrong, but Nanako continued to involve him until he overcame his shyness, and then he was genuinely having fun. His face was brighter than she'd seen it in her entire time here, and his soft and breathy laugh—her goal—was so adorable.

Souji started to initiate play on his own, too. He had Kitty ask where Foxie was and suggested the queen let her out of jail just for today because she was missing all the fun.

"Oh, I don't know," Nanako said in her Chan-chan voice. "Stealing gummies is a serious crime! Buuut I do miss her, so okay. (Souji-kun, why don't you go get her for me?)"

Nanako had the animals host a little reunion with Foxie, and then made her go along with the others on an adventure.

That evening, since Aunt Seta was out of town, Nanako ordered pizza from a nearby pizzeria. She hadn't had pizza in forever, and with how excited Souji seemed to be, he probably hadn't either. It was a four-way pizza with avocado shrimp, barbecue chicken, pepperoni, and Italian-style cheese. He ate the whole cheese portion all on his own, and Nanako claimed the shrimp. They had enough leftovers for the next night.

Before putting the boy to bed, Nanako decided to read to Souji—using her Loveline manga! Souji followed along attentively, and when she closed the second volume and told him it was time to sleep, he sat up in his bed, clutched at his sheets, and begged her to read him the next one. She smiled at him and promised to continue tomorrow.

* * *

><p>[504: Wednesday]

Since it was Nature Day and all, Nanako decided she should go out and enjoy nature at its finest, so she took Souji out to the Samegawa River. Since he seemed to have an interest in bugs, she'd bought him a bug-catching kit.

She twirled around with the bug-catching net and listened to the satisfying _whoosh_ it made as it cut through the air. It was a perfect day for it, really. The sky was cerulean, and the bugs were lively and active from the recent rain.

But something was out of place.

She looked at her little cousin. He was wearing a white snap-button shirt with a collar, and over that was a gray vest. At least he was wearing shorts—they looked to be from his school uniform—but he had pristine white socks and shoes that looked new.

It was quite a problem. This was what he'd worn when she told him to put on play clothes. After a search through his room (with the horrified boy watching her hunt), it had turned out that he pretty much didn't have anything she would consider play clothes.

"Souji-kun, the vest needs to go."

He thumbed the vest's hem and looked up at her in obvious confusion.

Moments later she was pulling it off of him, the justification being that it was too hot to wear outside. "It'll get crumpled too. Don't worry, I'll fold it up and we'll leave it right here, okay?" she added when he stared at it in her hands as if it needed far more reverence than she was giving it. She put it on the picnic table.

That would do for now...

Nanako began to look for bugs nearby. "Here, here! It's a ladybug, Sou-chan!"

Such a simple bug didn't even need a net to catch. Nanako had Souji bring her the glass box and simply picked up the leaf the bug was resting on and put it inside. Souji held up the box to his face and watched the ladybug crawl around in its new home.

"How many spots does it have?" Nanako asked.

"Seven," he reported. His eyes were small; he seemed to be enthralled by the creature.

Nanako saw something jump in the grass and began to stalk it. Yep, it jumped again—a grasshopper. She slowly closed the distance, but it jumped away again. She brought down the net, but again it evaded her. Finally, after the third try, she caught it. It tried jumping but the net kept it contained. She lifted the net and grabbed it before it could jump again, then brought it back to Souji and put it in the box. It immediately tried to jump out and crashed against the glass. It fell upside down, but Souji gently turned the box until it was back on its feet.

Nanako asked him to follow her to the river, where she took off her shoes and put her feet in the water. The banks were rocky, but the stones were mostly smooth, so it wasn't too uncomfortable to walk along the river barefoot.

Souji was on the grass and made no attempt to come closer to the water.

She gave him a no-nonsense look. "Off with the shoes, Souji-kun! It'll be fun, I promise!"

He looked down at his feet, and before he could react, she tackled him to the grass with a laugh. "You're such a silly boy, come on!"

He tried to wriggle away, but Nanako got ahold of one of his feet and pulled the shoe off. After that, he gave up, and she pulled the other shoe and then both socks off, too. She thought of tickling his feet, but decided against it because she'd always hated that when she was younger.

"Come on, let's go to the river!" she said. "I promise I won't push you in, and if I do, then you can splash me all you want. Umm, you know how to swim, right? Just checking."

"Y-yeah, b-but..." he said, voice quavering.

"Whoa, hey, what's wrong? You've got cute feet—you shouldn't hide them!" she said, thinking it was the stealing of his shoes and socks that had upset him.

But it wasn't that. "N-not s'posed to d-dirty my sh-shirt..." he whimpered, picking at his shirt where it had become stained from their tumble in the grass.

"Oh, what? Here." She tugged at his shirt, unsnapping the buttons and ultimately taking the whole thing off. "You didn't need a shirt, anyway."

"It's s-still d-dirty," he said, sniffling and rubbing around his eyes.

"Souji! Look!" She pulled up a clump of dirt and grass from the ground and rubbed it all over her blouse. "Ah! Now I'm dirty, too! We'll just go home and do some laundry, okay?"

"'s not S-Sunday," he mumbled.

"Your mom's not even going to know. She's still out of town." Who knew when Aunt Seta would be back, anyway? She hadn't left Nanako any sort of estimate about it. "Really, it'll be okay," she said soothingly. "Trust me. I'm the boss."

He sniffled again, and she had him blow his nose on his shirt, and then made a pile on the grass with it along with his shoes and socks. She helped him up and walked him toward the water's edge. Looking at him and his reflection in the water, she noticed how pale the boy was. Did he ever get out of the house? She'd have to take him to the beach this summer. Well, after coating him with a thick layer of sunscreen.

"Maybe sometime we can go swimming, huh?" she suggested.

He was looking at his feet through the water's surface. He wiggled the toes of one foot. "Y-yeah... I'd like that..." he admitted slowly without looking up. She ran her fingers through his hair in happiness.

"Look, Souji-kun! A butterfly!" She spotted it across the river, flying around in the haphazard way that butterflies tended to. It was a bright yellow color—the common brimstone butterfly—and soon it was fluttering around them.

It flew around Souji's head, the boy trying to follow its movement, until it landed on his nose. "Ah, ah... it t-tickles!" he said, his eyes crossing to look at it.

It flattened its wings for a moment, and then it was off again. They watched it seek flowers among the sea of grass above the riverbank until it flew out of sight.

They moved down the river to the makeshift pier—it was just a few large flat stones set into the river—and sat with their feet hanging over the edge. The water was so clear that they could watch fish swimming in it. She vowed to bring some worms or fish food next time (she couldn't very well feed them the bugs she'd caught for Souji!). For now, though...

She pulled Souji into her lap and cuddled him close to her chest. Seeing his face turn so rosy, ah! That was all she needed for now.

* * *

><p>[505: Thursday]

Children's day!

"We have the house to ourselves," Nanako told Souji. "Let's go wild!"

She proceeded to take him to her room and dress him up in some of her own clothes. He came out of it decked out in a pair of her slacks—he refused to wear a skirt, despite her pleading—which were way too large for him and kept falling down until she tied her yellow school scarf around it as a makeshift belt, and her Yasogami High winter jacket. She tied the long arms of a pink sweater around his neck and told him it was a cape. Inspired by that one boy at the daycare, she put one of her bras on his head as a finishing touch.

It was too bad she'd left her old Detective Loveline costume back in Tokyo. He'd be _adorable_ in it.

"Your name is... Lieutenant Briefs!" she announced, since the pants had fallen down again. He blushed and tried to hold them up.

She turned to her closet and contemplated what she should wear. She considered raiding her aunt's closet, but her clothes were probably too expensive to mess with. She settled with wearing a jacket on backwards and wearing a shorter skirt over the skirt she already had on so that it looked like it was layered, if one ignored the fact that they were completely clashing colors: bright pink with white polka dots over a vibrant fire engine red. "And I am Sailor Boss!" she declared, twirling so that her dual skirts flared out. "Defender of Love and Happiness!"

She then struck a pose, and then helped him come up with his own pose to complement hers. She found the Loveline umbrella in his room and brought it out to him. His eyes glittered at the sight of it. She gave it to him and said it was his Wand of Justice.

"Now... Lieutenant Briefs! What is the cookie situation?" she asked in a businesslike fashion.

"We don't have any cookies..." he answered with a cute little frown.

"I know, and that's a crime. It must be corrected. And sooo... We're gonna bake some! How about that?" She strode into the kitchen and pulled out a package of cookie dough from the refrigerator that she'd bought over the weekend for this express purpose.

"Y-yeah!" he declared. "Please, please!"

She told him to get his step stool. While he did that, she pulled down a cutting board and rolling pin hidden in the cabinets and set them on the counter. Then she ran back up to her room and grabbed one of her Junes bags and brought it down.

Souji was waiting for her at the counter, standing on his stool and moving the rolling pin back and forth. He stopped suddenly when he was caught and pretended that he hadn't been touching it. Nanako laughed at him and patted his head, then put the bag on the table. He looked at it curiously, but she didn't open it.

She put some flour on the cutting board, as per the instructions on the cookie dough package, and then showed him how to use the rolling pin to flatten a portion of the dough. She let him try, but he didn't quite have the strength to flatten the dough, so she stood behind him and 'helped' him roll it. They had some trouble with the dough sticking to the rolling pin until she covered it with flour. She showed her floury hands to Souji and told him she was turning into a ghost, and he giggled.

When the dough was flat enough, she asked him what kind of shapes he wanted to make. While he mulled an answer over, she pulled out the cookie cutters from the Junes bag and waved the package in front of him. "How about... dinosaurs?"

_Junes really does have everything,_ she mused while she helped him punch out the different dinosaurs in the dough. As soon as she'd seen the dinosaur cookie cutters there on Sunday, she just had to buy them even though she'd never baked cookies before in her life. There was even a pterodactyl in the set. It was like it was made just for Souji.

They only had one baking pan, and it couldn't fit all of the cookies, so they had to bake in shifts. Souji was so excited when the first set was done that she literally had to pull him away from the oven so that he wouldn't get burned when she took them out. "Keep your pants on! Really, they're falling down again."

Chastised, he stepped back, and while he was distracted by pulling his pants back up, she opened the oven and took the cookies out. The blast of heat that came out was enough to keep Souji away from it. "That's right! It's hot!" she told him. "We'll have to wait for them to cool before we can have them."

Though in all honesty, Nanako was impatient to try them, too. They were only sugar cookies. Since it was her first time baking and all, something simple seemed best. They smelled amazing, at any rate...!

And they were pretty amazing when they were finally able to have some. She gave him a pterodactyl and the long-necked one, and she ate a tyrannosaurus and a triceratops. Next time maybe she'd get sprinkles or frosting, she thought. Yes... there'd be a next time.

Souji wasn't a very talkative kid, but she coaxed him into discussing dinosaurs, and boy did he have a lot to say about them! He informed her that the long-necked one was an apatosaurus and then went on and on about which ones ate each other. If only her exams were on dinosaur eating habits—then she'd be totally prepared.

As the day drew on, they played several games together and watched a little bit of TV—though not too much TV; she'd noticed before that the boy seemed to get too absorbed into it. By nightfall, she declared that since it was the last day of Golden Week, she would spend the whole night with him. "That's right—sleepover in your room!"

"H-huh?"

She nodded decisively, and then proceeded to take her blankets from her futon and drop them on the floor in his room. She added several more sets of blankets from a closet and then made a sort of nest on his floor. "Come here, Lieutenant Briefs, come sit by me! Ah, just take the pants off," she added when they'd fallen down again. What a fitting name that had been... He didn't really need to bother putting on pajamas. Fortunately he'd removed the bra from his head several hours before because one of the straps had kept getting in his way. It was now in the living room somewhere... she'd have to find it before Aunt Seta came home and wondered what she'd been up to in her absence, haha...

The boy sat next to her on the makeshift mattress, and she pulled him firmly into her lap and then read the next volume of the Loveline manga to him.

She was glad that she had almost the entire series; she could keep this up for many more nights. Maybe after she finished them all she'd move on to Featherman, but she didn't own any of those volumes, and collecting manga was expensive. Maybe Yosuke owned some that she could... borrow. Otherwise, maybe she'd look up a reading list for elementary age children and pick something that sounded fun and start reading him that. She'd make it fun for him, too, making up different voices for the characters and everything. This was why she couldn't join drama club—she'd want to play every role herself.

"'I'm sure you'll become my very best friend!' Aww, look, she's picked up the puppy in the last panel. This was a good ending! Better than last night's, huh? What an awful cliffhanger that one was, hehe. Oh, and guess what I have for you, Souji-kun?"

Souji, still looking at the last page of the manga, was slow to turn his head and blink up at her.

"Ta-da!" Nanako picked up the plushie she'd hidden from his sight under her pillow and set it in front of him. "Well, it's Foxie, who's not a puppy, but I think that if she had a best friend, maybe she wouldn't resort to a life of crime. How about it, Souji-kun?"

He couldn't hide his surprised little smile as he reached out to touch the fox.

"Now," Nanako said, "I don't know if she loves hugs as much as Chan-chan, but it's worth a try, hmm?"

The smile became a full-on grin. He clutched the animal to his chest, and then Nanako hugged him, too, since he was still in her lap and all.

"All right, I suppose we should get to sleep," she said with a sigh. "Hey, why don't you sleep on the floor with me, hmm? It'll be like a camp-out. Just me and you and Foxie!"

Without waiting for his response, she pulled the blankets and pillow from his futon and placed them next to her little nest. He seemed embarrassed, but he didn't protest when she gently pushed him into lying down in the spot she'd made for him. After she put a blanket over him, she went to turn off the light. His eyes reflected the glow of the nightlight in the corner of the room as he watched her prepare her own spot in the dark.

When she was situated, she told him goodnight, and then tried to lean over and kiss him on the forehead. She missed and got his hair instead, making them both giggle. "Sleep well, okay?" she told him. "Dream of flying with the pterodactyls."

"Uh, umm," he mumbled. "Y-yeah... Goodnight... b...big... sis..."

While she was still registering his words, she felt him cuddle up to her back. She carefully turned around and enfolded him in her arms, trying to dismiss the tears forming in her eyes.

* * *

><p>[AN: In the game, the Golden Week holiday is when the main character takes his little cousin out to meet all his friends. But our little Souji isn't quite ready to meet a bunch of people like that, so this happened instead!<p>

This chapter felt like it took forever to write. Coming up with cute things to do with kids was so difficult. Don't worry—even though I said that, I still have plenty of ideas and plans for Souji, hehe.

And we really couldn't resist that little bit of butterfly symbolism there.

Next Chapter: The Prince and the Punk, Part 1

The plot makes a comeback as the Midnight Channel airs again.]


	11. Chapter 11 - The Prince and the Punk, 1

[Summary: Yosuke takes some initiative in investigating the killer's next target. This goes as well as one would expect.]

* * *

><p>[508: Sunday]

_Dear Mom~_

_Happy Mother's Day! You thought I'd forget again, didn't you!? Of course not. I'm a good daughter, don't you know it!_

_I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I wanted to give you some good news. The good news didn't happen, so I guess you get sort-of-okay news instead. I found a piano in the music room at school. Good, right? But the not-so-good is that it's hurting and I'm having some trouble fixing it. I'd send you a picture of it, but I can't make you cry on Mother's Day. Still, something's better than nothing, so I'm glad I at least have that! I'll figure it out, though, don't you worry, or I'm not your daughter!_

_Oh! I made a few more friends. A dorky boy and a princess. They have evil dark sides but I totally made them accept them and I guess they're gonna grow from the experience or something. I'm not sure myself, to be honest. I, on the other hand, don't have an evil dark side. Can you believe it? I'm special!_

_Mom, you know, I think it's all because of you!_

Nanako paused, thinking of Souji... and then began to type furiously into her phone.

* * *

><p>Speaking of Souji, he seemed to be holding up well despite the fact that it was Mother's Day and they hadn't seen or even heard from his mother in a week. The new episodes of Loveline and Featherman helped, of course, as well as Foxie. Nanako observed that the stuffed animal moved around the house from time to time. It had been on the kitchen counter Friday morning, apparently helping Souji make breakfast for them, and by the time she had returned home from school that day, it was sitting on the tea table, watching him finish his homework. In fact, it was there right now. He'd turned it to face the TV.<p>

Now that morning television was over, Nanako wasn't sure what she wanted to do. The idea of hitting the books after spending all Friday and all Saturday studying just made her want to hit her head against the table. Before she could, though, her cell phone rang. She was excited for a moment, thinking it might have been her mom, but the ring tone was the default one, not Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.1.

Ah, but it was someone in her contact list: Chie. "Yo," Nanako greeted.

"Hey, Nanako," Chie said. "I was wondering if you wanted to take a break from studying? I'm seriously at my limit!"

"Hell yeah! You wanna come over and watch movies or something? I've got cookies."

"Ohhh, cookies!" Chie sounded wistful. "But actually, I'd rather get some fresh air. We can get some training done together, and I can show you some kicks!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Nanako breathed. Oh, to get out of this house again! To get some exercise!

While Chie told her where they'd meet—the flood plain—Nanako watched Souji as he was absorbed in a commercial advertising a strawberry-flavored candy. "Yeah, sure, I'll be there in about 20."

"Cool! Bring some water because we're gonna work out!" Chie hung up with enthusiasm.

Nanako put her cell phone away and then went to her room to get changed. Her gym clothes seemed to be the best bet. She hardly wore them, anyway. They were a jacket and sweat pants, blue-green in color, just like the boys wore, with Y on the right breast and H on the left. Not stylish at all, but who cared? It was a Sunday!

When she came back downstairs, Souji blinked at her. "Oh... are you going out?"

"Yep, and so are you! Come on, bring along your bug-catching stuff. We're going on a picnic!"

He blinked even more rapidly at her, then began to excitedly grab his things. While he did that, she packed a quick lunch in a duffel bag and soon they were at the riverbank.

Nanako waved at Chie, who was already punching invisible enemies in the air. "Hey, girl!"

Chie smiled with teeth. "Hey! Oh! Who's that?"

Nanako felt Souji hide behind her and grip the fabric of her sweat pants. "This is my little cousin, Souji-kun. He's a little shy." She paused, because that was an understatement. "Souji-kun, this is my friend Chie from school. I'm going to practice P.E. with her. You, lucky boy, can watch, or try to find some bugs, hmm? We should probably let out the ones we found on Wednesday."

"B-bugs!?" said Chie. She stepped back several feet and raised her hands defensively in front of her. "Keep it away from me!"

"You're afraid of bugs?" Nanako narrowed her eyes mischievously. "Souuuji, Grasshopper-san is still in your jar, right?"

"Nanako! Do _not_ even think about it!" Chie shouted. "I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay," Nanako relented. "But gosh, you're an entomophobe, eh?"

"I am not!" Chie snapped.

"It means fear of bugs."

Chie huffed. "Do we have to know that for our exam tomorrow?"

"I wish," Nanako replied. "Since I know it already... Anyway, do you wanna have lunch first, or should we work up an appetite? Umm, Sou-chan, I can't really move when you're hugging my legs, could you—thanks."

The two girls practiced punches and kicks together, and Nanako taught her friend some of the aikido she knew. Souji sat on the grass and watched them, the jar of bugs held idly in his hands. When Nanako was winded, she called a time out for lunch, though she was jealous of Chie's stamina. The other girl seemed ready to continue for another half an hour.

Nanako pulled out a blanket from the duffel bag and spread it on the grass and they had a little picnic eating the fried egg sandwiches she'd made for them. Thankfully, Souji didn't seem to be afraid of Chie anymore. He probably just needed to get used to her. In fact, he even answered some of the simple questions the girl asked him.

"Must be fun living with Nanako, huh? I think for her, every day has to be an adventure." Chie smiled before tearing out a bite of her sandwich.

"Y-yeah... It's fun," Souji admitted quietly, his cheeks becoming faintly pink.

Nanako explained that his mom was out of town, so they'd spent Golden Week together.

"Aww!" said Chie. "That's really sweet! I wish I had a cute 'little bro'! The only family like that I have are my twin cousins, and they're both girls. They're bratty, too. Uh, don't tell them I said that!"

When they were done with the sandwiches, Nanako took out the bag of dinosaur cookies she'd packed. "Souji-kun gets dibs on the pterodactyl, but what do you want, Chie?"

Chie marveled at the design of the cookies. "Did you make these yourself? I'll take the tyrannosaurus and the stegosaurus!"

Nanako admitted that she'd used a refrigerated cookie dough package and cookie cutters from Junes, and Chie admitted that she would have done the same.

"I like the tyrannosaurus rex because it ate meat!" Chie said rather predictably. Nanako laughed while Chie pretended to have it attack the stegosaurus to put on a little show for Souji, who had his pterodactyl fly around a bit before he finally ate it.

Bonding over cookies... the only way to bond!

* * *

><p>That evening after dinner, Nanako was doing some last-minute studying at the tea table. It wasn't going very well. She had reached that point in the crunch time studying cycle that said, 'you either know it or you don't.' It didn't help that Yosuke had called her in a panic asking if she had the answer to a particular problem in their math class, and when she'd turned to that page in her notes, she couldn't make heads or tails of the question either, dispiriting the both of them.<p>

Fortunately when she was starting to get really frustrated, Souji asked her the meaning of a word in the book he was reading for leisure, and that distracted her for a few minutes as her curiosity took over. She, of course, had to know what he was reading and make him talk about it. It was a picture book about different types of trains.

Before she could get back to her own work, the front door opened and there was Aunt Seta, still dressed in her business clothes and pulling a suitcase behind her. She appeared somewhat frazzled; her dark brown hair was loose and all over the place, and a few of her blouse's top buttons had been loosened.

In a flash, Souji jumped to his feet, raced over to her, and hugged her legs.

"Souji!" Aunt Seta scolded lightly. "Come on, I can't move this when you're—"

"H-happy Mother's Day..." the boy said.

Aunt Seta paused and blinked. "Oh... It is that day, isn't it?" Souji nodded against her legs, and then drew back, his face flushed with emotion. "Well... thank you, dear. Have you been a good boy for Nanako-chan?"

"Y-yes, Mama..."

"Good. You seem to be so happy... Then... I'm happy, too, darling." Aunt Seta smiled at him with a warm but tired smile, and then turned back to her suitcase. "In fact, I have something for you." She unzipped a compartment on the suitcase and pulled out a bag of hard candies and gave it to the boy, who stared at it in absolute wonder.

"M-Mama...!"

"I missed Children's Day, after all." Aunt Seta patted his head, and then turned away from him to resume her struggle with pulling the suitcase into her room. A wheel caught on the corner of the wall, and she swore at it until it cooperated.

"Uh, how was your trip, Aunt Seta?" Nanako asked, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

"We closed the deal," the woman reported with obvious pride, "though it took longer than we thought. Weather was nice out there, rained a bit, but wasn't too hot. The hotel was adequate. I'm exhausted... I'll probably change and then go straight to bed."

"Oh, all right," Nanako said hesitantly. The woman was true to her word. Once she'd reached her room, she closed the door behind her and didn't come back out.

Nanako looked at her cousin. The boy was still staring at the candy bag. She had a feeling that he wouldn't open it. He'd keep it as a souvenir. God, what a terrible thought... Still, Nanako was surprised her aunt had remembered to get him something—but it was just a bag of candy, probably she'd bought it right at the train station as an afterthought...

"Uh, umm, big sis..." Souji had broken out of his trance to look at her. "The flowers..."

At school, Souji had made red flowers out of paper as a project for Mother's Day. It included a handmade card, too. The words, "I LOVE YOU" filled up most of the card, surrounded by a number of multicolored hearts. Souji had planned to give them to his mother. "We'll put them on the fridge," Nanako told him, and proceeded to do just that.

* * *

><p>[513: Friday]

Exams were the source of all evil. Really, Nanako had spent quite a long time studying and wasn't sure it had done her any good. She considered herself smart, but maybe not exactly book smart. Her least favorite subjects were math and literature. It wasn't that she was bad at math—she just didn't have the patience to deal with the more abstract problems. When they had real-world applications she could get motivated, but otherwise she simply had no interest. And literature... she liked reading, but hated being forced to read. She knew what she liked—adventure stories and hard mysteries—the sorts of books that were almost never assigned.

Still, she was pretty sure she did better than Yosuke and Chie, heh heh... They were both looking pretty down by the time Friday and the freedom it represented came around.

"I need some comfort food," Chie whined. "Let's go get some steak!"

"To Junes!" Nanako raised a fist. They were still at school at the moment.

"But the steak there sucks," Chie protested. "I want a skewer from Souzai Daigaku. Nanako! Have you been there?"

"Nope."

"They don't have enough seating for all of us," Yosuke pointed out. "I'm not in the mood to stand around and watch you eat, you carnivore."

"You're just upset you can't use your discount there." Chie crossed her arms, absently mimicking his current pose.

"I was going to suggest getting takeout there," Yosuke said, "bringing it to Junes, and then eating it at the food court."

"All right!" Chie opened her purse and handed some bills out to Yosuke. "Pick me up three—no, four—skewers. Yukiko, do you want any? Nanako, oh, get another for Nanako. It's on me. So that's... five."

Yosuke stared at the money suddenly in front of him. "Wait, what?"

"Souzai Daigaku is on the other side of town from Junes!" Chie said. "You have a bike, so it'll be way faster if you went and got the food for us. We'll meet you at Junes."

He looked to Nanako for rescue, but she just shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I don't wanna walk all the way there. But I'm not sure that he can carry all that and steer the bike at—"

Before she could finish, Yosuke scowled, pocketed the money, and headed out of the classroom. "I'll see you at the food court."

The girls watched him leave. "That wasn't a challenge," Nanako said. "But okay."

* * *

><p>The three girls had been chatting for about half an hour when Yosuke finally arrived at the food court. He didn't say a word, just kind of threw the plastic bag carrying the takeout boxes onto the table and then took a seat far away from Nanako.<p>

"Uh, thanks, Yosuke!" Chie called to him before diving right into the food. "Oh, but where's my change?"

Yosuke silently produced some coins and slid them across the table to her. Then he put on his headphones and rested his head on the table.

"What's got into him?" Chie wondered.

"I'm gonna guess... he crashed his bike," Nanako said. "Maybe you should buy him a soda. He looks like he could use one."

"Y-yeah," said Chie. She stood up and went to the food counter.

While she was ordering, Nanako was left with Yukiko, but couldn't think of anything to talk about, so she focused on eating her steak skewer. It was okay, as steak went. It wasn't that much better than the Junes steak, in her opinion, but she wasn't a connoisseur.

She was trying to identify the song Yosuke was listening to, since he'd put the volume up too high, when she spied Detective Adachi walking by the food counter. She excused herself from Yukiko to intercept him. "Adachi-san!"

"Eh?" The man seemed surprised at being addressed. "Oh, Nanako-kun. Hanging out with your friends, huh? I'm, uh, on break." He turned a sheepish grin on her.

He wasn't fooling Nanako, though he probably knew it. She ignored it and got to the point. "You left something the last time you visited." She handed him the lighter.

Adachi's shoulders slumped in obvious relief. "God, I was wondering where that went. It was driving me half mad! I tore my apartment apart looking for it..."

"I'm sorry," Nanako said softly, stricken by his words. "I should have returned it to you sooner."

"Hey, it's okay! I'm just glad to have it back." Adachi had on a reminiscent smile as he traced the etching on the lighter with his thumb. "It was a gift from your uncle. Well, not really a gift, haha... He made me light his cigarettes with it." He looked at Nanako's face. "Thank you. It's kind of important to me."

"Y-yeah." Nanako watched him stow it safely away in his pocket, and then pat it as if to make sure that it was really there. She thought carefully on how to word what she wanted to say next. "Hey, umm, Adachi-san... You didn't visit on Wednesday."

Aunt Seta had actually cooked on Wednesday, and to Nanako's shock, she was actually good at it. It had been tonkatsu with homemade sauce and rice. Then Aunt Seta had checked her phone and found out that Adachi wasn't coming over. Nanako tried her damnedest to read her aunt's expression; it appeared to have been mostly annoyance. Nanako knew she shouldn't get in her aunt's business, but she was just too curious about her relationship with the detective.

"Ehh..." Adachi said. "I can't help it when I have to work overtime. You understand that, right?" He shrugged.

"Yeah," she replied. "Maybe I'll let you go so you won't have to work any today, huh?"

"You're a good kid," he said. He waved at her in a friendly manner as he turned back into the store.

Nanako returned to her friends at the table in the food court to find that everyone had been watching her speak with Adachi. Even Yosuke had stopped sulking to watch—or maybe the root beer float Chie had given him had cheered him up. Chie asked Nanako who he was and what she had talked with him about, and Nanako explained that Adachi used to be her uncle's partner in the force.

"'Used to be?' Did he get promoted, or demoted, or something?" Chie asked.

"I probably worded that poorly," said Nanako. "My uncle, Sachio Seta, passed away. That's why they're ex-partners."

Chie covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Nanako shrugged. "I never met the guy." She further explained her living situation. "It's a bit awkward in that house. I'm always afraid of triggering memories with my aunt."

"Sachio Seta," Yosuke mused. "I've heard that name before."

"It was big news when he died," Yukiko murmured. "Such a tragedy..."

"Oh, was he the cop that..." Yosuke trailed off, looking sick all of a sudden. "Oh, crap!"

"Y-yeah," Nanako confirmed.

"Wait, so your cousin Souji-kun... doesn't have a father?" Chie said. "That's why you spent Golden Week with him..."

"No wonder you blew me off," Yosuke muttered. "I don't blame you at all."

"Souji-kun is adorable," Nanako said, "but he's so... introverted, and sometimes he feels so broken... I can't tell if it's because of what happened with his dad, or if he always like this. I'm afraid to ask." Honestly, she wasn't sure Aunt Seta would even understand what she was talking about if she did ask. "I'm trying my best to reach out to him, and, on the bright side, he is reaching back. He likes me."

"That's good, at least. Well, as long as you aren't ordering him around," Yosuke said.

"You have to be cruel to be kind," Nanako replied. "He'll never break out of his shell if I leave him be, so, yeah, I do have to push him at least a little."

"He got over his shyness with me pretty fast," Chie said. "There's hope for him!"

They spoke more about the quirks of family before parting ways for the day.

* * *

><p>[514: Saturday]

It was finally raining, and raining so heavily that it promised to last all night. Nanako kept her excitement on the down low, but in truth she'd been hella bored lately. All throughout exam week she occasionally caught herself daydreaming of throwing some of her acquaintances into the TV just so she could fight another Shadow. Maybe Kou, or that fat girl, or even Morooka...

But that would violate Rule #1, and she wasn't going to break any of her rules just yet, though she was almost bored enough to break Rule #2 and get some solo training in. Working with her squad was great, but with them to fall back on, she didn't feel like she was pulling her own weight. She also felt like she wasn't learning how to get the most out of her wild card ability. Switching Personas on the fly for any sort of situation they'd run into, that was her goal.

It was just... the Shadows in Yukiko's Castle weren't a challenge anymore. Nanako had asked Teddie if there was anywhere else they could go, and he'd said no. She reminded him of that foggy place with the red floor tiles that they went to their very first time in the TV World—where they'd almost died. He said he couldn't find it again, and Nanako figured he probably wasn't capable of lying to her. There had been something about that place... It was probably hidden from him.

Regardless, there wasn't much to be done while waiting for night to come, and Nanako felt restless. The outlet for some of her pent-up energy was working at the daycare. It would have been better if it hadn't been raining, though. The kids were all stuck inside the building, and the daycare manager had them watching a movie. On the bright side, with all the kids in front of the TV, it was easier for Nanako to be near Souji. He'd situated himself at the edge of the group, and she sat right next to him. Soon enough, other kids scooted themselves to sit around her, and Souji found himself in the center of a crowd. When he seemed uncomfortable by this turn of events, Nanako gently squeezed his shoulder, assuring him that she was there for him, and he calmed down with a little smile.

That night, she was in the middle of an exciting dream about fighting a giant mecha when her cell phone rang. It was Yosuke. She interrupted him before he could say much of anything and told him to shut up and never call after midnight again. Anything he'd seen on the Midnight Channel could be dealt with in the morning. He was still protesting when she hung up and powered down her cell phone to prevent further calls.

Then she returned to her dream, but unfortunately couldn't recapture it.

* * *

><p>[515: Sunday]

They met up at what Yukiko now called their 'Secret Headquarters.' It was just the Junes food court, but Nanako was amused by the name. She was glad her friends were getting into their assigned roles. Yosuke, for one, seemed really happy to be able to contribute what he'd discovered, despite Nanako's reaction last night. As it turned out, only he and Chie had managed to watch the Midnight Channel. Chie didn't recognize the guy at all, but Yosuke said that the silhouette he'd seen looked kinda like the guy who had been on a recent news segment about biker gangs.

"So he might be in a biker gang," Nanako mused. Their next party member was going to be a badass. She was looking forward to it already. Well, technically she supposed they should try to prevent the guy from being kidnapped and try to catch the culprit in the act, but...

Unfortunately, the news segment hadn't revealed the guy's name. Yosuke said he had an idea who it might be, but wanted to confirm it first before they pursued a wrong avenue. He excused himself to do that, and the three girls then went to the electronics section to speak with Teddie through the big TV there. The bear confirmed that no one had been thrown into the TV World. Teddie also whined about being bored since they hadn't visited him in a while, and Nanako told him it probably wouldn't be much longer. "Get another pair of glasses ready," she told him, and he seemed happy to be of service.

"So it seems people show up blurry on the Midnight Channel before they're kidnapped, and then when they're thrown in, their Shadow comes out and that weird show airs," Chie remarked.

"What weird show?" Yukiko asked. "Did I have one...?"

Chie and Nanako exchanged glances. "Don't worry about it," Nanako said. "It was just your Shadow talking about being a princess. Because your dungeon was a castle." Out of the corner of her eye, Chie passed a grateful nod at her for the vague description.

"Something about lacy—Ow!" Nanako punched Teddie through the TV. "Bossss! What was that for?"

"Ahem. Anyway," said Nanako, "I guess we have to wait for Yosuke to make progress on identifying that guy." A peal of thunder rumbled through the store, prompting her to finish with, "We should get home before it starts raining."

* * *

><p>[516: Monday]

"Here," Yosuke said in class the next morning. He showed Nanako the screen on his cell phone. "I took a picture of the Midnight Channel! I wasn't sure it would show up, but it did. I'm pretty sure I know who it is. I'm gonna check it out after school, and then I'll call you, okay?"

"Can your phone record video, too?" she asked. "That could be useful."

"Well, maybe, but my SD card is kinda small. I'll try it tonight, if it rains again," he promised.

Yosuke was restless all day in class. Nanako could tell because his foot kept tapping the leg of her desk, and he wasn't trying to get her attention or anything. He just wanted to get moving. She wondered why he was so intent on figuring out the guy's identity on his own. She figured it had to do with the fact that he was the only boy on the team. Maybe he was having his own doubts about pulling his weight. Well, let him prove himself. What was the worst that could happen?

...She recalled the last time she'd asked herself that. It had been when she'd first pushed him into the TV.

Yeah...

She decided it would be a good opportunity to work on her tailing skills, so she followed Yosuke out of class. Unfortunately, when he headed to the school's side lot, she realized she'd totally forgotten that he had a bike. While she watched him curse and struggle to get it free from its chain, she considered 'borrowing' someone else's bike, but probably all of them were locked, and she wouldn't have enough time to jimmy one free, anyway. Just moments later, Yosuke was on his bike and on the move.

She should've just asked to come with him, really, but where was the fun in that?

Yukiko and Chie were loitering at the school gates, so she asked them which way he went. "East," said Chie. "Towards the flood plain or the shopping district, I guess. But, uh, you could just call him, right?"

Nanako imagined Yosuke trying to answer his phone while biking, and although the visual was amusing, she didn't need him to get hurt.

While walking towards the shopping district, she spotted Saki Konishi heading in the same direction. "Saki-senpai!" she called, and the older girl waited for her.

"You should wear your hair down," Saki chided gently upon her approach. "If you keep it in a ponytail, it's like you permed it for nothing."

"Y-yeah... I know," Nanako answered. "I see yours didn't stay straight for very long."

Saki sighed. "It never does."

They began to walk down the road together. "So... how are you?" Nanako asked.

"Please don't ask that every time we meet," Saki said, rubbing her nose. "It's tiresome, and everyone else does it, too."

"Ah, sorry—"

"And don't apologize, either. I don't... I don't want sympathy." Saki's expression softened when Nanako looked chastised. "I'm sorry. Most people treat me like a time bomb, or else a sick animal. I'm not me anymore. I'm Naoki's sister."

"Do people try to pretend that Naoki-kun never existed?" Nanako asked, thinking of her uncle. "Or do their best to avoid mentioning him at all?"

Saki nodded, and her hair danced with the action. Nanako noticed it because her wavy hair was still so dazzling to her. "My parents act like he's just gone out with his friends and forgot to call home. It's sickening. I try to stay away from there, but... I have to help out. I have to do Naoki's chores around the store now. It's where I'm heading, actually."

"Do you still work at Junes? I haven't seen you there in a while. Well, not that I visit every day."

"I had my hours reduced. Parents want me to quit, but, well, they've always wanted me to quit. They hate Junes, and they hate that I work there, and... I don't know, maybe a part of me wants to be hated by them. It's better than being forgotten, like the shopping district is, slowly but surely."

"I buy pretty much everything from Junes," Nanako admitted quietly. "I guess I'm part of the problem, huh?"

Saki waved her hand and made a dismissive sound. "I'm not judging you, and no one should. It's the future. Really, even the megastores will eventually be replaced by online shopping. Hah, you have King Moron for homeroom, right? He rants and raves about technology because he can't handle how different the world is becoming from what he's familiar with. That's everyone over a certain age, it really is."

Nanako remembered how her dad had complained and complained and complained when he'd been given a smartphone for work and had been forced to learn how to use the email function on it. Now he couldn't live a day without it. Nanako primarily communicated with both her parents through email, actually. "Well, mostly he raves about morality, or rather, immorality, but I know what you mean," she said. "If it wasn't Junes, it'd be a Nanjo or Kirijo chain or something else."

"Exactly," Saki said emphatically. "People in Inaba think with a small town mentality, but sooner than they expect, it's going to become a big town, and they're gonna have to get with the times. It's not like they're saints or anything anyway. Look at the shrine in the shopping district. It's so dingy! Even the gods are being left behind!"

Izanami stirred in the back of Nanako's mind, and she wondered for a moment how much the average person knew about Japanese mythology outside of popular anime. "Don't let your grandma catch you saying that," Nanako warned with a somewhat desperate laugh. "Uh, by the way, how'd you know I'm in Morooka's class?"

"Oh, Hana-chan told me he sits behind you," Saki said. "He's mentioned you more than once, Nanako."

"Yosuke? You know, I was going to ask if you saw him go by this way. I'm kind of following hi—umm..." Nanako cut off her own words because she became aware that Saki was looking at her slyly. "Uh, no. It's not like that. He's just a friend."

"Hana-chan is a good guy," Saki said lightly. "He deserves a good girl."

_Oh god,_ thought Nanako. _Please don't point him in that direction._ But the more she denied it, the more Saki would probably think it was true, so she turned the tables instead. "I don't fit that description. And, well, _you_ were supposed to be that good girl, you know."

Saki hissed as she sharply took in air. Then she laughed ruefully. "I never said I was a saint, either," she admitted. "I never told him that I already have a boyfriend, but I think he's finally realized I'm not interested in him. Our shifts at Junes haven't overlapped in quite a while, at least. I wonder if that's his doing. As for your question... He did go by, and he asked me if I recognized someone in a picture. It looked kind of like Kanji Tatsumi. He didn't explain what it was about. He just nodded, thanked me, and headed off on his bike. Maybe he's going to see Kanji-kun. His mother owns the textiles shop down the road from the liquor store. We're almost there, anyway. If you don't know it, I could point it out to you."

In fact, they'd walked all the way to the central shopping district together. There was that gas station, and there was the bookstore, and there was the Velvet Room door, and there was Yosuke, hauling ass towards them, his bike nowhere in sight. "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't kill me!" he was shouting.

Nanako blinked, and then saw what he was running from: a tall, bleached-blond guy wearing a purple shirt with a skull on it. He wore a Yasogami High jacket over his shoulders, and it fluttered in the wind behind him. The man's large hands were balled into fists, and with his quick, determined stride, he was totally gaining on Yosuke.

"Oh, speaking of the devil, that's Kanji-kun now," Saki said mildly.

"GET YOUR PUNK ASS BACK HERE AND GET BENT!" Kanji shouted. He slowed for a second to nod and say, "Hello, Senpai," to Saki and then resumed the chase.

Nanako watched Yosuke run—he'd crossed the road and was now doubling back the way he'd come—for a long moment because, hey, it was entertaining, but then decided to intervene because it was clear he'd be caught soon. Kanji's strides were just too long. When Kanji passed by her, Nanako tripped him. To her surprise, instead of face-planting right into the sidewalk, the man caught himself. He turned a glare on her, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Tch, what wassat for?"

"Sorry," Nanako said. "I kind of need Yosuke in one piece." She pointedly ignored Saki's significant look.

"Dude's a friggin' asshole," Kanji complained. "Got up in my business, showing me some damn photo when I was busy talkin' to, uh, t-talkin' to..." Kanji's face became flushed. "D-dammit, I never got his name... Oh, shit, there he is!"

A slender figure wearing a blue double-breasted cardigan coat, a matching boy's cap, and plaid blue pants was walking down the road towards them. As the strange boy approached, Nanako had to stop her jaw from dropping. Bluish hair, gray eyes, that signature cap, yes, she recognized him. "Detective Prince!?" she shouted.

The blue-clad boy stopped and eyed her. "Hello, ma'am. Forgive the intrusion, but I must have a word with Tatsumi-san—"

_Oh my god, he called me 'ma'am.' He is so adorable!_ Nanako thought. _Souji-kun, you now have competition!_ "Naoto Shirogane! Are you investigating the murders?"

The boy's eyes widened. "I am making such inquiries, yes... May I ask how you know of me?"

"Detective Prince," Nanako repeated. When the boy looked tired by that answer, she added, "My dad's a detective with the Tokyo PD."

"My fame precedes me," Naoto said with a small sigh. "I must admit that I did not expect that here... However, misfortune can be turned to advantage. Might I know your name?"

"Oh, I'm Nanako Dojima! And Kanji-kun doesn't know anything, but I do, so let's uh, let's go somewhere and talk!" She wanted so much to grab the young detective by the shoulder and steer him into Aiya or something and start talking shop. The Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane! Here in Inaba, talking to her! She could die happy!

Naoto raised an eyebrow at Kanji, who looked conflicted. "I have made plans to speak with Tatsumi-san after school tomorrow, as I currently do not have the time. I see you are also a student at Yasogami High, Dojima-san. Perhaps you could join us."

"Wh-what," said Kanji. "You're a d-detective? Shit! You think I'm the killer or something?" He looked ready to punch a wall. "Goddamn cops! I got nothin' to do with it!"

"Calm down, Kanji-kun," said Nanako. "I know you're not the killer. Why would the killer target himself? That's just dumb."

Now Naoto's raised eyebrow was directed at Nanako. "Target himself...?" he mused. "Well, are we in agreement, then? We will meet at the gates to Yasogami High after school lets out tomorrow."

_I will sooo be there,_ Nanako thought. She nodded instead. Kanji looked reluctant, but then let out a, "Tch, yeah..." Naoto nodded, satisfied, and then walked away.

"Haven't been to school in weeks," Kanji mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I thought for sure that boy would question me," Saki remarked. She sounded relieved that he hadn't.

"Maybe he didn't recognize you as Naoki-kun's sister," Nanako said. "He'll probably come by and bother you later."

"Probably." Saki sighed. "He seemed polite enough, anyway, unlike some of the police who've talked to me."

Nanako turned to Kanji and addressed him. "I want to give you a warning. Someone might try to kidnap you."

"Kidnap me? Uh, Senpai... You sure about that?" The bleached-blond boy's brow knit together. "Come to think of it, that idiot kid I was chasin' said something like that..."

"Yosuke's heart is in the right place, even if his brain isn't. Really, Kanji-kun. I know you don't know me, but please be careful if you answer the door at night for strangers. Better yet, ask the person's name before answering, or answer with one eye closed."

"They'd have to be an idiot to pick a fight with me," he said, cracking his knuckles, "but thanks for the warning, I guess."

Her job done, Nanako parted ways with Kanji and Saki and headed home, where she retired early in her utter excitement for the day to come.

* * *

><p>[AN: Saki ships YosukeNanako. Oh dear. It's not my intention to make this a shipfic, honest!

Naoto Shirogane is supposed to be a well-known detective. Even if most of Inaba has never really heard of him, someone like Nanako, who's so proud to be a detective's daughter, definitely would have.

Next Chapter: The Prince and the Punk, Part 2

Nanako does her best to ingratiate herself with the Detective Prince.]


	12. Chapter 12 - The Prince and the Punk, 2

[Summary: Nanako candidly discusses the murder case while probing Naoto's knowledge. Despite her warnings, the Midnight Channel airs again.]

* * *

><p>[517: Tuesday]

Yosuke thanked Nanako in the classroom the next morning before school. "I thought that guy was going to kill me."

"Kill you?" Chie asked, overhearing. "Who what now?"

"Kanji Tatsumi," Yosuke explained. "He's the guy on the Midnight Channel. I tried to warn him, but he took it the wrong way. I barely got out of there with my bike. Nanako-san is my savior." He laughed a little awkwardly at the admission.

"Buy me a drink and we're even," Nanako told him, and he readily agreed.

"Kanji Tatsumi," Yukiko repeated, also joining in the conversation. "We—that is, my family—often order from his family's shop. Do you think we should visit?"

"Sure," said Nanako. "You three can go after school today. I can't, though—I have a date!"

"A date!?" Both Yosuke and Chie looked taken aback.

"Will you make him call you 'Boss'?" Yosuke asked, his expression dark.

"I'm kidding," she admitted. "But I do have plans." She considered inviting them to join her, but only for a very brief moment. She wanted the Detective Prince all to herself. "I'll tell you about it later, I promise."

"It's the piano, isn't it?" Yosuke guessed. "You're going to work on it today, huh?"

"What piano?" Chie asked.

"The piano in the music room," Yosuke explained helpfully. "Nanako-san can play the piano. She's pretty good at it, too!"

Nanako shrugged off the compliment. "I'm nowhere near as good as my mom."

"Oh!" said Chie. "You did say she plays professionally. That's really neat. You should play something for us sometime!"

"Make a theme song for the DEATH Squad." Yosuke chuckled. "I'll make it my new ringtone for you."

"Can you play Moonlight Sonata?" Yukiko asked. "I've always thought that was very pretty."

With reluctance that faded once she warmed up to the subject, Nanako spoke of her skill level and what songs she knew until class started.

* * *

><p>After school, Nanako stood next to Kanji Tatsumi as they both waited for Naoto Shirogane to show up.<p>

Kanji was rather quiet, but his posture betrayed his nervousness. He kept shifting restlessly and combing his fingers over his carefully styled hair.

"So, uh, did he say what he wanted to talk to you about?" Nanako asked.

"Dunno," Kanji admitted. "When he invited you along, it sure as hell threw me for a loop." He sounded sullen. Nanako shot him a questioning look, and he avoided her eyes. "I dunno... It's nothing."

Nanako opened her mouth to inquire further when she noticed Kanji's posture stiffen. She turned see Naoto bearing down on them. He was easily spotted because he stood out like a sore thumb. He was wearing the same strangely-fashionable coat and adorable cap as yesterday.

"Tatsumi-san, Dojima-san." Naoto nodded to each of them in turn upon approaching.

"Shirogane-san, please call me Nanako. 'Dojima-san' is my father." Nanako giggled. _Oh god, I just giggled..._

"Very well," said Naoto. "Nanako-san."

"And jus' call me Kanji," the tall boy said. "No need to be formal..."

"Kanji-san," Naoto murmured. "Let us be off. We seem to be attracting attention."

Nanako glanced towards the gate and saw a pair of heads, two different hues of light brown, quickly hide behind it. Chie and Yosuke? Dammit, they were supposed to be visiting the textiles shop. Nanako thought of shouting at them but decided that would probably give a poor, if accurate, impression.

Naoto began to walk leisurely down the road that led away from the school. "Kanji-san, I would like to direct my first questions at you. Please bear the inquiry without insult—they are simply standard procedure. I understand that at times, you are active during the late hours of the night. Were the nights of April 11th and April 14th such nights?"

"Err, ahh," Kanji mumbled. "Was a month ago, man. I don't really remember that far back..."

"It was, as they say, a long shot." The detective seemed unconcerned that Kanji couldn't remember, though he did scribble something down on a notepad.

"Those were the nights before the bodies were discovered," Nanako added helpfully. "Maybe you saw or heard something?"

"Notta thing," Kanji said. "I mean, s'just the truth. Not tryin' to hide anything." He looked at Nanako. "I'll tell you this. Naoki Konishi was my friend. If I knew anything that could help, I would've said already."

"Are you aware that you were on television last Friday?" Naoto asked next. Nanako now watched the detective closely. What did he know of television's role in all of this?

"I was?" Kanji's brow knit together. "I don't—oh, you mean that damned film crew? You gotta be a special brand of dumb to want to get up in those bikers' business. I saved their asses and they never bothered to thank me."

"Oh, so you're not part of the biker gang," Nanako noted.

"'Course not. I ain't got a motorcycle. Just a bike. I ain't even got a license for it."

_Don't worry, you'll be part of my gang, soon enough,_ Nanako thought.

"Those dicks always make such a ruckus, drives me up a wall, so I show them the light, as it were... Made 'em move their shit to the flood plain instead of the shopping district so my ma could get some sleep at night."

"Huh..." Nanako mused.

Naoto addressed her suddenly. "Nanako-san. You implied previously that you had knowledge on this case to impart."

"Oh, umm. Why don't we sit down somewhere? It could take a while."

Conveniently, they weren't far from the picnic table on the flood plain. Naoto sat on one side with his notepad before him, and Nanako and Kanji made a rather incongruous pair on the other side.

Naoto told Kanji that he did not need to stay, and Kanji looked dejected. "Shoulda known you weren't really interested in me," he muttered loud enough that Nanako heard. She looked at Kanji, and then at Naoto. The way he'd said 'interested' sounded like he'd meant... _Well, Kanji, you have good taste, because I totally have a crush on him, too._ She'd spent a lot of her time taking in the Detective Prince's appearance. She'd noted the stilted way he walked, probably partially caused by those thick-soled boots. She'd looked it up online and he was actually 16, the same age as she was! Though he looked younger, and his voice seemed soft, like he was a late bloomer.

The only problem was his hair. It was so messy! For all his supposed smarts, it's like he didn't know what a comb was. Despite that, it looked soft and Nanako wanted to tug off that cap and touch it.

And that overcoat... Sure, it was a nice coat, probably kept out the cold real well, but it also hid the shape of his body and _wow_ Nanako realized she was getting creepy.

"Kanji-kun, you can stay," Nanako said, "but pay attention, okay? Umm, well..." She couldn't very well tell them about the TV World—that would violate Rule #1—but she could talk about the fog and Yukiko's kidnapping. "I don't know how long you've been in Inaba, Shirogane-san, but I'm sure you're aware of the extreme fog that sometimes sets in. It has been on the news because it's so unusual. In fact, the nights before the Ms. Yamano and Naoki-kun's bodies were discovered were filled with this fog—it seems the killer used the fog to cover his actions when he put the bodies on display. The last time we had a fog like that was April 29th, and as you are aware, that night was uneventful. No one was found dead. The average person might be tempted to think that might mean the killer is out of action or else quit, but that would be a mistake. Because I'm certain that he tried."

Naoto stopped writing on his notepad to eye her, and after a moment she continued.

"My friend at school, Yukiko Amagi, was an intended victim. She was kidnapped Saturday evening—April 16th." Nanako explained how the inn was busy, how no one saw it happen, how the person had used a flashlight to blind the girl and then sedated her with something that smelled sweet—possibly chloroform. "We—that is, our fellow classmate Chie Satonaka and I—found her Sunday evening, not far from the inn, but she doesn't remember what happened and could not identify her captor. She doesn't know how she escaped, either. It's possible her captor had mercy, but I doubt it. At the same time, I doubt he'd be careless enough to let her wander around."

"Is she certain her kidnapper was male?" Naoto asked.

"Ah, no," Nanako admitted. "You're right, that's unknown. Yukiko wasn't abused, by the way."

Kanji let out his breath in a relief. "We used to know each other in middle school. If anything happened to her, I'd wanna..."

"Y-yeah," said Nanako. "Me too."

"Until that has been established," Naoto said, "I would prefer to refer to the culprit as 'they' for now." He tilted his head to consider Nanako. "However, it seems to me that the culprit acted too soon in regards to Amagi. If they intended to kill her and then set up the body in the murky fog... Her body would have decayed long before the 29th."

"They could have stored the body in a cold place to preserve it," Nanako suggested. "Or they could have intended to keep her alive until closer to the foggy night through repeated sedation."

The three of them shuddered at the thought of being kept alive just to be killed later.

"Repeated use of chloroform would cause memory loss," Naoto mused. "Neither autopsy reported the detection of chloroform, but it's possible the lab did not test for it. And it is too late now as the bodies are more than likely cremated." Naoto put the end of his pen to his mouth and looked at Nanako. "Amagi's escape concerns me. You found her near her home?"

Ah... Nanako thought. This was the weak point in her story. Of course the detective would spot it. "It's possible the kidnapper put her in the truck and she recovered consciousness in transit enough to fall out and the kidnapper didn't realize it until she was already lost."

Naoto nodded. "That would explain why she was found close to her home. A truck... She doesn't know the make or the style?"

"Yeah, believe me," Nanako said. "I've tried to jog her memory in several different ways, but the information simply isn't there. After the flashlight in her eyes up to us finding her in the woods is all missing."

"May I ask why she did not report to the police of her experience?"

"Her family worried it would affect their reputation, which is already under strain from the fact that Mayumi Yamano had been staying at their inn. It would also affect Yukiko's image at school. It really wouldn't be good for her if the story got around."

"The police can be trusted to be discreet," Naoto commented, "but I do respect that decision. If, indeed, Amagi's kidnapper was the murderer, without that knowledge, the police are not pursuing that avenue."

"W-well, now _you_ know," Nanako pointed out. "So, umm... yeah."

"I do, and I intend to put my full attention to this case." Naoto's smile was small and grim. "That is, in fact, the reason I've come to Inaba. Thank you for your assistance. I was quite surprised to find a high schooler so cooperative."

"You're the Detective Prince!" Nanako said excitedly. "Of course I'd—umm..."

She cut herself off because Naoto had cringed at her words. "Please do not use that ridiculous moniker."

"But you've earned it!" she cried, and she proceeded to rattle off the details of every case that the young detective had solved. "And then my dad's jerk of a coworker came over to the house once and called you 'Defective Ponce' for refusing to take on the stolen diamond case, and I kicked him in the tushie!"

By the end of her rant, Naoto's eyes were wide and his mouth parted—horrified and fascinated all at once.

"Good on you," said Kanji. "Don't take crap from anyone, Senpai."

Then Naoto shook his head and chuckled. It was a soft sound. "If it means that much to you... Very well, I shall not be bothered if you continue to use it."

Victory! Nanako was sure her grin was so wide it was off her face. "Detective Prince! If you're new to town, then... you could use someone to show you around, right?" Sure, Nanako didn't know the town that well herself, but the boy didn't know that.

"I have already familiarized myself with the town's layout," Naoto claimed.

"Yeah, but you don't know the best places to eat! I could go for some ramen right now. How about you? And Kanji-kun, too! Aiya is the best and it's near the textiles shop anyway."

"I'm game," Kanji said. "I'd better let Ma know so she won't cook so much for dinner."

"You're such a good boy, Kanji-kun," Nanako said. His face turned pink and he denied it. She recalled how he'd greeted Saki so respectfully yesterday even in the middle of chasing Yosuke. Appearances could be quite deceiving. He looked like a punk—she'd noticed the piercings and the scar over his eyebrow—but he probably had a big heart inside.

In all honesty, Nanako kind of didn't want Kanji along so that she could pretend it was a date with Naoto, but at the same time, she didn't mind including him on said date. She was all-inclusive like that, after all...

Naoto seemed about to refuse, but then nodded and said, "I suppose I could do with a meal."

They headed down the flood plain, chatting inconsequentially about the town. When they reached the shopping district, Kanji had more to say since he knew all of the stores and their proprietors. "Ieyasu-san closed up shop, and so did Yamura-san, and Ishida-san..."

"Business seems to be drying up," Naoto observed. "It couldn't have happened in only a month." He was implying that they had closed because of the murders.

Kanji scratched his head. "Well, a lotta people blame the Junes on the other side of the river, and that's part of it, but... times are changing. Take clothing, for instance. People are more willing to buy two cheap-ass shirts that'll tear within a month than one well-made one that'd last a year."

"It is a tragedy that logic seems to evade the common man." Naoto sighed. "I prefer quality products myself."

"I know, right?" said Nanako. "I bought something cheap from Daidara's and then it broke and I was pretty mad about it! I could've die—er, it really inconvenienced me. And he told me it was because I bought the cheap one. Well, I know better now. But I just didn't have the money at the time."

"What'd you buy from Daidara's?" Kanji was frowning in thought. "Dude only sells antiques."

"Oh, uh, a cooking pot. A cheap iron one, but the handles fell off," Nanako smoothly lied. "Now I got a nice copper one and it's pretty good so far."

They passed the textiles shop, and Kanji excused himself to check in with his mother. It turned out that 'check in' meant simply opening the sliding front door and shouting, "Hey Ma, I'm going to Aiya with some friends!" at the gray-haired lady sitting on a cushion inside.

The lady said something back, and then Kanji further shouted in a slightly quieter voice, "No, don't get up! You can't meet them!" He then closed the door quickly and turned to the two of them. "Uh, well, let's go." His hands twitched, like he dared them to comment, and Nanako practiced self-control by not laughing at the pinkness of his face.

"Aiya!" Nanako led the way, because she knew where that store was, at least.

"Aiya is great," Kanji agreed. "You know, they deliver anywhere."

"Anywhere?" Naoto repeated. "I have my doubts."

"What, are you going to test it, Detective Prince?" Nanako asked with a teasing lilt.

"Unfortunately, that's beyond the scope of my purpose here." Naoto was smiling playfully. _Ah, good!_ Nanako thought. _He has a sense of humor!_

They entered Aiya and took seats at the counter. Naoto ordered a small beef bowl with extra garlic and no egg. Nanako went with shrimp ramen, and Kanji went with a mega beef bowl, whatever that was. It was probably what Chie had ordered when Nanako last ate here since it came with extra beef.

"How do you like Inaba so far, Shirogane-san?" Nanako asked when they were nearly done. Naoto had finished first. Apparently he had been hungry. "I've barely been here a month. I started living here right at the start of the school term."

"Well, the town is... quaint, I suppose," the detective replied. He scanned the room almost imperceptibly, but Nanako noticed because she was watching him far too closely. It seemed like he was wondering if he'd be overheard the other customers, but there weren't many anyway, just a couple of fellow teenagers behind them.

"That's just a nice way of saying it's a big bunch of nothing." Despite his words, Kanji's tone was light. "Don't have to be nice about it. But it's home to me."

"I'm here for the school year and then I'm out like a rocket," Nanako said. "Shirogane-san, you're here only for the case, right?"

Naoto nodded and said, "Indeed."

"Do you like traveling?" Nanako asked. "I haven't traveled much, actually. This is the farthest I've ever been away from home."

"Hope people're making you feel welcome," Kanji said. "Sometimes people don't take kindly to outsiders."

Nanako's friendly interrogation was cut short by the bill, which Naoto took care of. When Nanako protested, he said it was part of his expenses. "The information you provided is quite valuable to me."

_He just admitted he's using us,_ a part of Nanako's brain protested. _Shut up,_ she told it. "If there's anything else we can help with, let us know!" she said. "Umm, my dad is a detective, so..."

"So I've heard," Naoto replied politely. He stood up, adjusted his cap, and headed out of the restaurant.

Nanako cursed herself for repeating that, then followed him out, Kanji shortly behind. She didn't want them to go their separate ways already, but...

Naoto thanked them for their assistance, and Nanako forced him to shake her hand. Then, realizing she was just as bad as the gas station attendant, she asked for a business card. The detective provided one from a case that was stored inside his coat. He waited while she read it, and then tipped his cap when she thanked him with a bow, completing the business card ritual. Then he turned and walked away.

On the downside, Naoto was gone. On the upside, Nanako now had his business phone number and address.

Before heading off herself, Nanako looked at Kanji and reminded him to be careful of strangers calling at home.

"I dunno why you think they'd wanna mess with me," he said, "but I hear you, Senpai. I'll be careful. I won't end up like Naoki... Well, see you 'round." He entered the textiles shop and was gone.

On the way home, Nanako stopped by the part-time job board again. There were a few jobs she hadn't bothered looking at because she'd taken the daycare assistant job. And her eyes roved over to the open gas station attendant job...

After how she'd forced herself on Naoto without any bad intentions (well, admittedly her intentions were rather questionable), she could probably forgive that creepy gas station guy for trying to shake her hand. Maybe... maybe she'd take that job, if she needed money. She jotted down the details in her phone's address book.

The other jobs included a tutoring gig—psh, like she remembered what she'd learned in middle school. She didn't even remember the school principal's name—and folding origami cranes. The latter was for charity, so it was a volunteer job without pay. If she was a better person, maybe, but her time was just too valuable to work without pay, so she didn't take it.

* * *

><p>That night, Nanako sat on her couch in her room and typed with a speed that only a teenager could manage.<p>

_Daaad!_

_Guess who I met! Oh, you'll never guess._

_It's a boy. (Don't freak out!)_

_He wears blue._

_He has a cap._

_He's hella smart._

_His name is Naoto Shirogane!_

_Yes, THAT Naoto Shirogane! He's in Inaba working on the murder case. I've already offered my services to help him solve it!_

_He has such piercing silver eyes, like clouds, but I think his vision is clear..._

_If anyone can solve the case, it'll be him, don't you think?_

Her father's reply came only a few minutes later.

_Stay out of his way._

Nanako scowled at her phone. Her dad really was an old stick in the mud sometimes.

She replied: _Too late, Dad, I've already got my hooks into him! He's totes going to be your son-in-law. Even if we have to elope!_

_PS 'totes' means totally._

She expected him either not to reply, or to reply with a humorous demand like, "Where does he live?" but around ten minutes later, a piano concerto signified that a certain someone was calling.

"M-mom...?" Nanako asked tentatively upon picking up.

"Honey," her mother said in a stern yet playful voice, "please don't try to give your dad apoplexy."

"Mom! It was a joke! But the Detective Prince is pretty cute... and we did go to lunch together."

"I know you're excited, honey, but I don't want to hear that the doctors have increased your father's blood pressure medication because of you. He's worried enough about you being out there and so far away from him. I am, too, honey..."

Nanako, thoroughly chastised, couldn't find words.

"And you might think you're in love—I did, too, at your age, and I almost married him, but then I met your dad, and—well, don't rush into things, okay?"

"But rushing is what I do," she muttered, somewhat disheartened.

"I know, and I know you're very smart, so I don't have to worry too much about things many other mothers have to worry about, but please be careful out there."

Nanako promised she'd be a good girl.

"And are you getting along with Aunt Seta and little Souji-kun? You haven't mentioned them lately in any of your emails."

"Sort of to the first, definitely to the second," Nanako answered. "Mom, Souji-kun... he's adorable but he's so hurt. His mother loves him, but in such a harsh way... Mom. Please don't tell Dad but it's breaking my heart to see Souji-kun so alone all day. His mom doesn't hug him or anything and, and..." Nanako began to sniffle.

"Let it all out, honey. I can't be there to help, but..."

Nanako told her that the rather sappy Mother's Day email she'd sent had been inspired by Souji. "His mom took down the Mother's Day card he'd made for her that we hung on the fridge... I guess she threw it away, it's just awful to think about...!"

"Then you'll have to love him twice as much," her mother said crisply. "Is this a problem?"

"No, Mom! I'll do it!"

They talked about different things she could do with Souji-kun and ways she could try to involve Aunt Seta before her mother brought up an entirely new subject. "So, you said you found a poor old piano...?"

"Yeah!" Nanako talked about it and explained her problems with it, and her mother gave her some advice.

Before the conversation ended, broken glass sounded out, and a card depicting the sun appeared in Nanako's mind. She put the phone down slowly. Her mother was a social link? What next, her dad through email?

But her mother was her sunshine—or was she her mother's sunshine?—so it was appropriate.

* * *

><p>Nanako was about to retire for the evening when Yukiko called and informed her that Kanji was missing. Although it wasn't unusual for him to be out late, after the warnings Nanako had given him, she figured it probably meant their worst fears were founded and Kanji had been kidnapped. Damn, the kidnapper must be both strong and ballsy to go after that boy. Nanako wasn't sure she'd seen a taller guy in her life. Even her dad wasn't that tall.<p>

Regardless, she'd missed the lacy underwear last time, and it was already kind of late after her talk with her mom, so she decided to bear it and stay up to watch the Midnight Channel. While she waited for midnight to strike, she thought of making popcorn and wondered what would happen if the TV was already on when the show was supposed to start. Would it just keep playing whatever she was watching, or suddenly tune into the Midnight Channel? Maybe it would bleed between them both.

To stave off the boredom from waiting, she began to play a cell phone game. It was an MMORPG that she hadn't logged into in a while. Her virtual mailbox was maxed out in friend messages and 'please come back' items from the company that owned the game. She was still sorting through it all and chatting idly with her in-game guild when a voice rang out.

"Hel-LO, dear viewers... It's time for 'Bad, Bad, Bathhouse'!"

She frowned because that definitely hadn't come from her game—oh crap, it was the Midnight Channel. She typed 'brb' into the chat window and looked at the TV.

It was, uh, Kanji wearing nothing but a fundoshi. His body seemed oily, and he quivered and rubbed himself while speaking of 'sublime love that surpasses the separation of the sexes.' He growled playfully like a pussycat.

He's pretty hot! she thought, noting his muscularity. But, uh, he was lisping, which meant...

He turned around and entered the building behind him, apparently a bathhouse. Then the TV turned off.

Well, he had seemed interested in Naoto, so... this wasn't as surprising as it could be.

She said goodbye to her friends in the online game and then watched her phone for over a minute, expecting someone to call—Yosuke in particular—but her phone remained silent.

Screw it. She called him. Let him suffer for calling her the other day.

"Hey Yosuke, did you see that?" she asked when he picked up.

"..."

"So you did. Did you record it?"

"Y-yeah," Yosuke said after a long moment. "Well, maybe. My hand might have, uh, slipped. Because, uh... You saw that, right? I mean, you called me, so..."

"Yeah. What did you think?"

"It's probably pretty clear what I think!" Yosuke's laugh was high in pitch. "I mean, dude, what the hell was that?"

"Kanji-kun is my sort of guy," Nanako declared. "We gotta save him."

"W-well, yeah, but..."

She told him they'd figure it out tomorrow, and then crawled into bed and giggled herself to sleep. Bad, Bad, Bathhouse, indeed...

* * *

><p>[AN: Chisato Dojima is the Sun link. Sorry, Ayane Matsunaga!<p>

Next Chapter: Bad, Bad, Bathhouse

The DEATH Squad strip to their skivvies because it's really hot in there.]


	13. Chapter 13 - Bad, Bad, Bathhouse

[Summary: Rescuing Kanji is no easy feat]

* * *

><p>[518: Wednesday]

"Did either of you see it? The Midnight Channel?" Yosuke asked Chie and Yukiko before class the next morning. "No? So it's just me and Nanako-san...? Dammit."

"I thought you recorded that," Nanako pointed out.

"It didn't turn out," he said. "Well, the audio is there, but... You know, I don't really want that on my phone..."

"I can't think why," Nanako teased. She noticed Chie and Yukiko's puzzled looks. "Well, anyway, the point is that Kanji-kun has been kidnapped and so we'd better go into the TV World after school and see what's up."

* * *

><p>Teddie was excited because he'd detected another human in his world, but his poor 'sniffer' couldn't find out where. He'd wanted them to investigate Kanji to learn more about him, but Nanako simply told him that he was a really nice guy with image and self-esteem issues, what more could he ask for? The no-nonsense tone in her voice suddenly fixed the bear's nose, and they followed him off into the mist until they reached a traditional-looking bathhouse.<p>

"This is awesome!" Nanako exclaimed while they explored the changing area. There were dozens of changing stalls and some stools with towels lying on them. "You know how expensive a bathhouse is? Now we have one for free!"

"You realize there are going to be Shadows in there, right?" Yosuke said. "I can't imagine fighting in there." He pointed with a rather flat expression to a sign that read, 'Men only.'

"It's really hot in there," Chie said, worry in her voice. Yes, they could feel the waves of heat coming from the open bathhouse doorway even from several feet away.

Nanako put one foot on a stool and declared that they should all take their shirts off. "You first, Yosuke!"

The only boy on the team glared at her for a long moment before pulling off his school jacket. He folded it with more skill and care than she expected from him, set it on a stool, and then lovingly removed his headphones and put them on top of the jacket. Then he pulled his white v-neck shirt over his head and set it next to the jacket.

"Yeah," Nanako said, eyeing his bare chest critically, "I didn't expect much."

Yosuke flinched, his whole body drawing back with the action. "Wh-what were you expecting!?"

"I thought you'd be hairier," Chie volunteered, to nods of agreement.

He grumbled a bit, and then Nanako declared, "My turn!" She took off her jacket and tossed it onto a stool without ceremony and then started undoing her blouse's top buttons. Without looking up from her task, she murmured, "Don't get excited, Yosuke. I'm only wearing a sports bra."

"How can that even be called a bra—" Yosuke began, but Nanako suddenly used the stool as leverage to jump into a flying kick that knocked him flat on his back. She kept her foot planted on his chest while she finished taking off the blouse.

"Mm," she said. She rolled her shoulders as she adjusted to the air exposure. "I think this is going to be a fun day. All right. Chie?"

"W-well, I'm also wearing a sports bra."

"Figures!" Yosuke said, then emitted an 'Oof!' as Nanako put her weight on her foot on his chest.

"I don't know about stripping in front of Yosuke," Chie said. Her face was red.

"I've seen you jogging down the road in only a sports bra!" Nanako pointed out. "As part of your morning training!"

"Y-yeah, but that's different. I mean... He's right there!"

Nanako snatched a towel from a stool and dropped it on Yosuke's face. "There, now he can't see." The boy grabbed it and pulled it off, and then put it back on after seeing her glare.

Chie laughed in astonishment more than anything, but finally she took off her green jacket and the blouse underneath. Her sports bra had a pattern—alternating blue and green horizontal stripes which reminded Nanako of Naoto's plaid pants. Her own bra was plain ol' white.

The two girls turned to Yukiko. "I... I wear a traditional bra, but the heat doesn't bother me at all."

"Damn, I need a fire Persona!" Nanako growled. But... being without her blouse felt freeing, somehow. She was okay with the situation as it was so far. Besides, she didn't wanna visit the Velvet Room. One, it was way back at the backlot, and two, she was still pissed at Margaret for punching her.

"It wouldn't be appropriate for her to be shirtless in front of Yosuke," Chie added. Ah, yes, Nanako was aware of Yukiko's reputation as a delicate flower of womanhood... But Nanako wondered if it would be okay if Yukiko was shirtless in front of a girl instead.

"...Can I take the towel off now?" Yosuke asked, voice muffled by the cloth. "And can you remove your foot, Nanako-san?"

"Tch! You know you like it!" Nanako said, but she did step aside and let him get to his feet. She noted, however, how he looked at both her and Chie's bras and the flush on his face afterward. "By the way, Yosuke, if you get a boner, although I'll be flattered, I'm totally punching it!"

He seemed too flustered to respond.

"Yeah, but then..." Chie began. Then she blushed and looked away, towards the floor.

"Then what?" Nanako asked. "Don't leave me hanging, Chie!"

"He could say that your hand was on his, his...!"

"I wouldn't!" Yosuke claimed.

"You so would," said both Nanako and Chie at the same time.

Nanako put her hands on her hips and appraised Yosuke. "Yeah, I'll have to kick him instead."

"C-can I stay with Teddie...?" he moaned.

"What, and let you have fun imagining what three hot girls are doing in a steamy bathhouse without you? I don't think so."

"Where is Teddie, anyway? He didn't come inside," Chie noted.

"He said it was too hot," Yosuke said. "His fur couldn't 'bear' it, or something."

In all honesty, Teddie's support was of questionable value. He did a great job memorizing what attacks worked and didn't work on particular Shadows, but the team could do that themselves. It was pretty easy to remember when an enemy was immune to, say, fire. Nanako still remembered how an eagle-shaped Shadow had flown through Yukiko's inferno completely unscathed. It left a strong impression. If Teddie could make predictions, now, then they'd be talking!

"Meh," said Nanako. "We don't need him anyway."

They headed in. After only a few minutes, all four of them were wheezing and gasping for air. The entire place was a bathhouse, which meant that every hall and every room was unpleasantly hot. The air was thick with steam that clung to their noses and throats. Nanako was glad she and the other girls wore skirts; she couldn't imagine walking around in pants like Yosuke was.

Fighting Shadows in this condition… It wouldn't be fun, which was soon proven.

Their first opponent was a pair of dog-faced policemen with round bodies, like they'd eaten too many doughnuts. Their bellies had a huge hole in them, as if they had no insides at all, and a key dangled within the cavity. They carried oversized handcuffs and used them as whips. When Nanako brought her naginata down on one of them while it was attacking Yosuke, the weapon slipped out of her hands due to how slick the handle was with sweat. While she scrambled to pick it up from the ground, the police-dog had turned towards her and raised the handcuffs—and then stopped. It began to tremble like it was coughing, and she realized it was because Yosuke was inside it, trying to pull the key off. With it distracted, Nanako grabbed her weapon and then stabbed it in the face until it dissipated into the ether. The key Yosuke was holding onto also vanished, and, unsupported, the boy fell to the floor, flat on his butt.

She looked at him, and he shrugged his bare shoulders and said, "I thought we could use it as a chest key."

Nanako praised him for trying, at least. She looked across the hall to see how Yukiko and Chie were doing, and there was no sign of their enemy. According to the girls, it had been weak against fire, so a combination of flame from Konohana Sakuya and Chie's stomping feet took it out easily.

Everyone seemed to be holding up okay, despite how rusty they were, but they were all getting sweaty. Yosuke's upper body was glistening, and when he shook his head, water flew off his hair like a wet dog. Nanako raised an eyebrow in interest before catching herself and telling him to watch out, because she'd been hit by that! Her own skin was getting itchy right where the bra straps rubbed against her skin. She almost wanted to take it off and wring it out. It made her realize that they'd be dehydrated soon.

The next battle was with a masked cupid. It shot Yukiko, and Nanako didn't realize the arrow had charmed her until a razor-sharp fan flew right at her face. She barely drew her naginata up in time to block it. Yukiko went into an involuntary giggle fit when she shouted at her, which at least kept her from recovering the fan and trying again. Once Chie kicked the cupid out of the air and stomped it to death, the tittering girl recovered and was horrified at what she'd almost done. Nanako told her it was okay, she could take any punishment. Yukiko fluttered the fan at her suggestively, and everything was forgiven.

They fought several other sets of Shadows, too, and by the time they found the second floor, they were ready to collapse from the exertion.

One thing was clear: rescuing Kanji was going to take some time.

Not because they didn't want to rescue him, but because it was too damn hot. As Nanako remembered from a bathhouse she'd visited once, you weren't supposed to stay in a steam room for more than maybe 10-15 minutes at a time, and when a single fight with Shadows could take that long, the going was very slow.

It was frustrating.

Nanako was sopping wet from all the sweat—even her hair was dripping like she'd been in the shower or a rainstorm or maybe even under a waterfall—when they exited Junes. In fact, the entire team looked nothing short of a disaster. Yukiko was going to be bothered by the inn's staff for how unladylike she looked—Nanako asked Chie to go home with her just to support her. Yukiko's Persona might have an affinity with fire, but even she felt it after so much exposure. Besides that, she had been fighting alongside them, more physical exertion than she was probably used to. Yosuke had dried himself off with a towel from the changing room before putting his shirt back on, but the shirt still ended up clinging to his body because he continued to sweat from the ambient heat.

Nanako growled to herself. They didn't make enough progress and they were so tired already. She worried they wouldn't have enough time before the deadly fog set in. "Tomorrow. Can you guys handle it two days in a row?"

The three others exchanged looks. "Yeah," said Yosuke. "We just need a bath." He gave her a lopsided smile. She was surprised at his enthusiasm considering he'd been so apprehensive about entering the bathhouse. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit.

Or maybe he enjoyed fighting while topless. That was something she could get behind.

* * *

><p>'Bath' was the only word on her mind as she headed home. She probably smelled awful. She didn't know for sure because her own nose was inured to it. But Yosuke had definitely reeked of, well, man-sweat, and Chie and Yukiko had kept their distance from each other when they'd normally walk almost hand in hand. Her hair was probably a wreck, too, but she could hide it in a ponytail.<p>

She was still daydreaming of a nice long soak when she opened the front door.

"Nanako-chan! There you are. And just in time for dinner, too! I was trying to call you all afternoon, but your phone was out of service. Please remember to charge it tonight."

Oh, shit, her aunt was home and waitaminute... Today was Wednesday!

Detective Adachi was appraising her from his seat at the kitchen table, taking in her tired and disheveled appearance, and, perhaps, Aunt Seta's words.

"Oh... What are we having?" Nanako asked politely. Dammit, there went her bath.

"Grilled mackerel with my own broth recipe," Aunt Seta said, raising her chin with pride while she stirred a pot. "Nanako-chan, won't you tell Souji that dinner is soon? He's in his room."

"Please, uh, let me get cleaned up first," she answered weakly, and Aunt Seta nodded.

After washing herself as fast as she could manage and changing into clean clothes—a new bra, blouse, and skirt—she knocked on Souji's door in warning, put on a smile, and then pushed her way in.

Souji was... What was he doing? He was lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling. She looked and there was nothing on it. "Umm, champ, your mom wants you out there."

"Dad's not there..." he whispered without moving a muscle.

Her smile faded and she strode forward to sit by his side on the futon, though there wasn't much room for her. She pulled him up into a hug that he didn't resist. He wasn't crying, just... Damn, she was so helpless when it came to this! What could she do to cheer him up? Did he even want to be cheered up?

"I'm sorry... We're gonna have to go out there," she whispered. "Umm... I know I'm not your dad, but I'll be with you, okay?"

Souji sighed and pulled away from her to stand up. He walked out of the room without waiting for her.

The two adults were conversing at the table. "Ah, Souji, darling!" said Aunt Seta.

"Hey, Souji-kun! Been a while, huh?" Adachi smiled at him faintly and awkwardly.

"Y-yes, A-Adachi-san," the boy murmured, eyes downcast.

Nanako felt bad for both of them. Adachi was obviously trying. He even wore a navy blue tie today instead of that old red one.

"And Nanako-kun," Adachi continued.

Nanako inclined her head. "Adachi-san."

During dinner, Aunt Seta proceeded to tell Adachi about Nanako since she was new to the scene—mostly things he already knew or could guess at, like that she went to Yasogami High. Adachi took it all good-naturedly. He didn't mention that Nanako had entertained him a few weeks ago. Nanako caught his eyes in silent question, and it was apparently going to be their little secret.

"Yes, I hear her dad's a detective in Homicide, too," he remarked. "Maybe she can give me some tips from him, huh?"

"My brother is a bit... hard-boiled," Aunt Seta said with amusement. "I have a hard time talking with him, sometimes, because he's so straightforward. He's always been like that."

"And I'm not hard-boiled?" Adachi teased.

"Half-boiled, perhaps," said Aunt Seta, her mouth curling up.

"Soft-boiled," Nanako corrected with a snicker.

"Nanako!" Aunt Seta scolded, smiling despite herself.

Adachi just laughed. "You're as sharp as Souji-kun, huh?"

Oh? So Adachi knew Souji was a bright kid underneath his quiet hermit nature. Nanako filed that away for review later.

"My dad sees a monochrome world," Nanako described. "Really, the only reason he isn't black and white is because reality won't allow it. You know, one time for class I was supposed to draw my family and I colored everyone in except him. I left him as a sketch. The teachers weren't amused, but my mom was, and, you know, that's all that matters."

Adachi was sniggering. "I can name a few people at the office like that."

"Ah! Tell Nanako-chan about that new person," Aunt Seta requested.

"Ehhh." Adachi sighed in reluctance. "We haven't made enough progress on the case in over a month so the prefectural higher-ups brought in an outsider. Some cocky detective kid... Apparently a miracle worker of some sort. Well, we'll see, right?"

"Naoto Shirogane?" Nanako asked.

Adachi blinked at her. "Yeah, that's the name. The kicker is that he's not even going for the reward. 'The truth is its own reward' he said, or something, can you believe it? I'd work for free too if I came from a rich family. Actually, I probably wouldn't work at all, heh. As it is I'm working for peanuts."

Or maybe cabbage, Nanako thought to herself.

Aunt Seta began to talk about 'something amusing that happened at the office,' and in all honesty it wasn't all that amusing. What Nanako found amusing was that even Adachi seemed to be zoning out while she told the story. His face was definitely glazed. He did laugh politely by the end, though. "Some people, right?" he said.

"I just couldn't believe he'd do that," Aunt Seta said, and went to talk about other silly things that particular coworker did.

This time, though, Nanako became aware that Adachi had given up listening and his gaze was wandering. He looked at Souji, who was apparently absorbing every word his mother said, and he frowned a little. Then he looked at Nanako. He noticed Nanako looking back at him and raised an eyebrow playfully. When Aunt Seta laughed at her punch line, the two of them also laughed, sharing a completely different joke.

It was really too bad Aunt Seta was here; her presence kept Nanako from speaking with Adachi. She badly wanted some insider information on how the Detective Prince was approaching the murder case.

She considered it, and maybe... maybe she could invite Adachi over sometime... Souji wouldn't like that, but he'd have to get over his apprehension towards the detective eventually, and she'd do her best to help.

* * *

><p>[519: Thursday]

After a long day of barely paying attention in class, Nanako and her squad were walking together out of the school, their ultimate goal Junes and the TV World—but they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, Dojima-san, I'd like to have a word."

Nanako hadn't even seen Naoto standing there by the school gates. The boy had obviously been waiting for her and had no qualms about addressing her in front of her friends. "I told you to call me... Umm..." The more-serious-than-normal look on the detective's face made her cut herself off. "Y-yeah... Uh, I mean, I'm kind of busy, but..." Wait, what was she saying? This was Naoto Shirogane! She turned to her friends. "You guys go on ahead."

"Who is that?" Yosuke asked, but Chie dragged him along and soon Nanako was alone with Naoto. Well, as alone as they could be with other students passing by. In fact, Naoto said nothing until he led her down a more deserted side road outside the school grounds.

"It seems Kanji Tatsumi has gone missing." Naoto said it neutrally, like it was a simple observation.

"I-is that so...?" Nanako said as equally neutral as she could manage.

"The police are reluctant to consider it a kidnapping, despite the evidence. It seems someone had called on the Tatsumi family at the textiles shop not long after our lunch together on Tuesday. There are signs of a struggle."

"I didn't do it!" Nanako said with a forced laugh.

Naoto didn't smile. "Do you believe that Tatsumi-kun is in the killer's clutches as we speak?"

Nanako assured him that if that was the case, Kanji couldn't be kept down for long. She scowled mostly to herself. Dammit, they had to save him. Hopefully today!

"Sedation can take out even the strongest of wills," Naoto murmured.

He was watching her far too closely! Nanako had to cut this conversation short. "Yeah... I really hope he'll be okay." There, that was simple enough and not suspicious and also a conversation-ender!

"I see," Naoto said. "Very well. Thank you for your time." The detective tipped his hat and then walked in a different direction.

Nanako slowed in her walking to think. She should've asked him for more information about the struggle in the Tatsumi residence, but Kanji needed their help now, and hopefully he'd be able to provide an even better picture of the scene. Besides, she could probably track down the detective at a later date. Or just wait for the detective to call on her again.

* * *

><p>When she arrived at the food court, Yosuke asked her what that was about, but she waved him away and led the group into the TV World. On the way in, she noticed that Yukiko had gone without stockings today, perhaps to lessen the impact of the heat. Nanako stared for a bit, letting the girl go into the TV before her. She had nice legs.<p>

With her mind now on such things, at the bathhouse changing room, she told Yosuke he should remove his pants. "Are you serious?" he squawked.

She pointed out how difficult they'd been for him to walk in when they became heavy with moisture. "Really, you're wearing boxers, right? I promise I won't make fun of you, even if they're Featherman themed." And she'd maybe hug him if they were Loveline themed.

He muttered with his face as red as Yukiko's sweater and then turned away from all three of them to remove his belt. He hesitated before dropping his pants, and ended up stepping out of them instead. Then he hung up the pants in one of the changing room stalls.

Boxer-briefs were apparently his underwear of choice. They were black with orange stripes. It made Nanako think of a tiger. Hmm, maybe he wasn't as boring as she'd thought.

He crossed his arms when he realized all three of them were staring at him. "Wh-what?"

Chie sighed. "We're just a little jealous that you can do that, is all."

He opened his mouth as if to protest that they could, but then thought better of it.

With that done, they continued from where they'd left off yesterday. Progress was slow, but they came upon a system that seemed to work well enough. After clearing a floor, they'd go back to the entrance and rest, mostly to breathe and cool off. Nanako had set up an ice cooler at the backlot and filled it with ice and water bottles so that they'd stay hydrated. The only problem was that it made Yosuke have to pee. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about undoing his fly every time. He did have to worry about the girls watching him, though... or at least Nanako, heh heh.

They climbed the next set of stairs and found big double doors blocking the way forward. Yes, they were at the top! Nanako called for one last break and then they were going to go in there and face it. She had a hunch that Kanji wouldn't be able to accept his Shadow on the first try. Too bad, she wanted him to get a stronger Persona like Yukiko had!

"Do you have any idea what we might find up there?" Chie asked. "I don't know anything about Kanji-kun."

"I don't think any of us know him," Yosuke said slowly. "Yukiko, you used to know him, but... he's changed, so... and you girls didn't see the Midnight Channel, so... Err... Nanako-san? I'll admit I kinda don't want to go in there."

"In middle school," said Yukiko, "he was a sweet boy. He wasn't the teacher's pet, but he was so polite and helpful. He liked to examine stuffed toys to see how they were put together. He asked me about the quality of my sweater once."

"Honestly? I don't think he's changed that much," Nanako said. "The key will be acceptance. And I'm not talking him accepting his Shadow, but I think us accepting him."

"R-right," said Chie. She took a swig from a water bottle and then crushed it much like a Persona card. "Let's do this!"

* * *

><p>The chamber was tiled and filled with the sound of running water. Throughout the bathhouse they hadn't seen any baths; apparently they were all hiding here.<p>

Standing before them, facing his Shadow in its fundoshi, was Kanji, looking both dazed and confused. "The hell's going on here?" he muttered.

"Oh, darling, guests!" The Shadow noticed them and strode forward. "Mmm… Ladies, did you not read the sign? 'Men only'... Oh, but there is a man, and would you look at that, he is ready to par-tay!"

The Shadow slowly looked Yosuke up and down, purring, noting in particular his boxer-briefs. Yosuke squeezed his legs together and hunched his body to make himself look small, as if he could hide in plain sight. The Shadow shook its head and clicked its tongue. "He's not our type at all."

Yosuke sagged in relief. Nanako had the feeling he had been about to run and hide behind her.

The real Kanji stared at them. "The hell are you doing here? What is that... that thing... with my face?"

"Oh, to be called a thing!" the Shadow wailed in over exaggerated disappointment. "Darling, I am you, I know all about you. How girls frighten you like no other!"

"It ain't like that!" Kanji shouted.

Nanako thought of intervening, but she decided that like Yosuke, Kanji probably needed this. Telling him he had to accept it, well... in front of all of them, it wasn't going to happen.

She signaled to the others to prepare themselves as Kanji vehemently denied his other self.

As Kanji collapsed, the Shadow drew power to itself and grew into a very muscular man with a wreath of roses around its neck. It carried two large metal Mars symbols, one in each hand. Its face even had makeup on. The symbolism… was a bit much.

Two slightly smaller—they were still taller than anyone on the team—but equally muscular monochrome man-like Shadows appeared at either side.

There was an urgent problem: Kanji had fallen right in the midst of the enemies. Nanako immediately ordered Yosuke to help her drag the boy to the sidelines and asked the girls to watch their backs. Yukiko fired up her Persona, and Chie caught one of the Shadows' attention and began to lead it away from the group.

The other Shadow focused on Nanako even as she was pulling Kanji out of danger. It was... god, it was huge and hulking and only wearing underwear, like Yosuke, and it kept stopping to flex its muscles every other step, but unlike Yosuke it actually had muscles to flex.

It was gaining on them. Nanako let go of Kanji to bring up her naginata, but before she could attack, Yosuke had rushed forward and sideswiped the Shadow, cutting at its arm with his dagger. The Shadow angrily turned and ran after him, leaving Nanako alone with Kanji.

She wouldn't be able to move Kanji on her own—he weighed too much. They were probably far enough away from the battlefield, though. She and Yosuke had managed to drag him between two of the baths.

"Ngh... The hell's going on?" Kanji mumbled. He tried to lift his head.

Apparently he wasn't unconscious! "Kanji-kun! Are you okay?"

"S...Senpai...? I can't get up," he said weakly. Probably his Shadow still running rampant was taking some of his energy. Nanako glanced over the battlefield. Her friends seemed to be holding their own for the time being.

"Kanji-kun," she said briskly. "Let's talk about you. You're confused about whether you like girls or boys, huh?"

"What... Y-you got that wrong! 'Course I like girls!" Kanji growled.

"Do you see what's going on out there?" She lifted Kanji's head so that he could see the battlefield. Well, it was actually pretty hard to tell what was going on. Chie's Persona was swinging at one of the musclemen, Yosuke had whipped up some wind that spread rose petals from Kanji's Shadow through the air around them, and Yukiko had thrown her fan and missed and was now trying to pick it up.

Nanako pointed out the primary Shadow and told him that it had come from him.

"No friggin' way," he muttered.

"You know, Kanji-kun. It's okay to be confused. But also... it's okay to like boys!"

"I don't!" he shouted, and Nanako winced because at the same moment Yukiko was caught by one of the Mars symbols and flung into one of the baths right next to them. Hot water splashed over Nanako. Her bra was already soaked from sweat, but the warmth made it far more unpleasant.

"Listen, Kanji-kun! Because I... I like girls!" Nanako declared. "And boys, too. And everything in between! I'm not picky."

"She really isn't," Yukiko confirmed. "She's always talking about threesomes. It's quite shocking. She seems so innocent!" She pulled herself out of the bath and summoned her Persona to dry herself off with its fire.

"I seem innocent?" Nanako gave her a funny look, and then a completely different look because with the light from the fire on her... wow! And to see her hair and clothes so wet...! Nanako blinked and turned back to Kanji. "Uh, but the point is that even though other people might not like it, what matters is what you think! You told me yourself not to take crap from anyone! You gotta take your own advice."

Kanji just looked at her.

"You like boys, you like girls, you don't know what you like," Nanako went on. "It's okay. Maybe... maybe we can be friends and we'll find out together, huh?"

"Nanako has helped Chie and me," Yukiko said. "We're really grateful to her. She'll help you, too. Umm... I think they need me." She ran towards the battle and summoned her Persona to refresh Yosuke, who'd slipped on the wet floor when trying to avoid an attack.

Nanako looked, but she couldn't see Chie anymore. Yosuke had returned to his feet, but was now being ganged up on by both Kanji's Shadow and one of the musclemen. When he tried to escape, he took a punch to the gut and crumpled to the tiled floor. Kanji's Shadow began to aim the pointy end of one of the Mars symbols right at his crotch.

"Err, if you could accept that," she said, "it'd be really great...!"

"Senpai... Yeah... I think I got it." Kanji pulled himself up to his feet. "Stop it right now!" he shouted, waving his arms at the Shadows.

To Nanako's surprise—and Yosuke's good fortune—Kanji's Shadow, still in its monster form, actually stopped. "D-darling!" it squealed. "You've reconsidered?"

Kanji stomped forward to stand right before it. He glared up at it. "Yeah. Maybe I ain't certain what I want... I'm just sick as hell of being judged. Idiots always thinking I'm a gangster or some shit... I want people to like me for me."

The Shadow blew him a kiss and then transformed into a Persona in a flash of light. It was a large black mecha with a skeleton painted on its body. It carried a massive metal lightning bolt reminiscent of the Mars symbols.

"Take-Mikazuchi, huh... Senpai..." Kanji fell weakly to his knees.

Nanako stepped towards him, but Yosuke was already there helping him back to his feet. Huh, that was fast; she hadn't even seen Yosuke get up! "Nanako," he said, "let's get the big guy out of here."

After finding Chie—she'd been at the very far end of the chamber since that's where she had lured one of the musclemen—and ensuring Yukiko was all right, they returned to the backlot. Nanako was about to go back to the bathhouse's changing room to recover her blouse and school jacket when she saw Yosuke guide Kanji through the exit TV and then crawl through it himself. His boxer-briefs caught on the TV's frame and were nearly pulled off. Nanako gave his butt about a six and a half out of ten.

"Yosuke, you might wanna come back and get your clothes!" she called through the TV.

"Oh, crap!" His voice was muffled like it came from far away.

She scanned the sky and kept one eye on the TV stack. She'd always wanted to see from this side what it looked like when someone came through!

"B-Boss!"

"Not now, Teddie," she said, not moving a muscle. "This is important."

"But Boss!" The bear moved in front of her, waving his stubby arms and thoroughly blocking her view. "Boss! That's a really small shirt! What happened to your normal clothes?"

"Teddie, I swear to god—"

"You rescued someone, yes? I smelled him here, but now he's gone! Did I miss him? Oh, I wanted to meet Boss's new friend! I made glasses for him, just like you asked!"

"Huh? Ted? Where have you been?"

"Yosuke! Where are your clothes!?" the bear cried.

Yosuke was already through the TV. Nanako sighed to herself. This particular mystery would apparently remain unsolved for now.

* * *

><p>[AN: After this, we really can't go back to the innocence we had before...<p>

It's part of my headcanon that Yosuke has tiger-striped boxer-briefs and wears tiger-striped pajamas at night. I don't know exactly where that idea came from, but he likes the color orange, so... heh.

And yeah, our Nanako is special. A running joke my coauthor and I have is that the primary ship is Nanako/Everyone.

Next Chapter: Suspicious Prince

Nanako visits Kanji to learn about his kidnapping. Coincidentally, so does someone else.]


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